Do Our Hearts Beat For Others?

For a number of years, I led the prayer time for a large Sunday morning Adult Bible Fellowship group at our church. During those years, our group evolved from a Bible study, to a connected group of people who loved each other, encouraged each other, and bore each other’s burdens.

We became a community whose hearts truly beat for one another.

One summer, our family was returning from vacation and our old RV caught on fire on the freeway. We smelled smoke, we pulled over, and flames emerged from under the hood. We quickly got out, and as I watched billows of black smoke pour from the vehicle, I came unglued. The seats where we had been sitting only minutes before actually melted. The windows were shattered by the heat. Our clothes and belongings were ruined: blackened with soot and impregnated with the smell of smoke. I was overwhelmed with a sense of danger, a realization of our fortunate escape, and a great sense of loss. Fear, relief, shock…these emotions and others whirled within me.

Those feelings lingered. So much so, that the next Sunday it was difficult to get up and lead our group in prayer. I was struggling to be vulnerable; to share my pain and loss. I tried to rationalize away my feeling: after all, it was just an RV and we were all safe. 

And yet…the trauma was real. 

How did our community – our friends – respond? They did not minimize what had happened, but came alongside us to offer their encouragement. To offer their support. Their help. Just a couple of weeks later, one member prayed for us on Sunday morning and gave us a large cash gift from the group to help offset our financial losses.

Their hearts were beating for ours.

There are over 40 verses in the Bible that speak of “another” or “one another”; verses full of wisdom that describe how we can live together in transformative community. In the aftermath of our trauma, our community members carried our burdens (Galatians 5:26), prayed for us (James 5:9), encouraged us (Colossians 3:16), and overflowed with love for us (Galatians 6:2), to name a few. 

Through the actions of these people, we felt such an outpouring of God’s comfort. Their palpable love for us helped us to heal from a painful incident. It was a taste of the rich community we can experience as we reflect God’s love for one another. 

Looking back, I know there were some in the group who particularly understood my great emotional distress. There also were others who didn’t quite understand why this situation was so heart-rending. Yet they all stood alongside us. 

The “one another” verses remind me that whether I understand someone or not…whether I’ve experienced the circumstances of another person or not…God is urging me to show his love and comfort and kindness for others. Just as our group did for me and my family.

As we put the wisdom of the “one another” verses into practice, they become healing and softening components in our lives. Instead of feeling alone, afraid or sad, we are bolstered and enabled to keep going. We are reminded that others stand by our side. In short, one another ministry results in hope and joy, because our hearts are beating for each other. 

Let me pray for you as you go out into your day. Dear Jesus, thank you for giving us one another. Help those who read this blog to be reminded of experiences where their heart has beat on another’s behalf, or where someone else has done that for them. May they be willing to be vulnerable, so love in their community of faith can be given and received more fully. So that they can love one another more deeply, and experience community in the ways you desire for them. Give them a sense of patience as they watch and listen for your voice, knowing that you are at work in and through them. Be at work to grow them in the “one another’s”, and may this help them to draw ever closer to you. Thank you for hearing this prayer, and for choosing to respond – as you always do – in some way. In your name, Amen. 

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