Recently, I’ve been going through a season of feeling far from God. My priorities and my focus have been far from where they should be, and I didn’t realize a key missing component: frequent fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. All glory to God, this week, I have been getting back on track.
If you have been going through a similar season, you are not alone, and I hope this post helps you make that first step to get back on track. No matter how far you have fallen, the Lord is merciful and waiting for you to return, repent and draw near to Him.
Over the past several months, I have been struggling with discouragement, disappointments and allowing myself to be overwhelmed by stress. I stopped reading the Bible as much as I used to, I stopped praying as much, and I stopped listening to sermons in my spare time. Most importantly, I stopped fellowshipping as much with brothers and sisters in Christ.
I allowed negative emotions and physical ailments to consume my mind, instead of keeping better guard and taking my thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). I was watching a lot of secular TV show episodes in my spare time to escape from emotional and physical pain. And, pretty soon, I found myself stumbling with things I thought I had been healed and delivered from.
Last week, I made the initiative to finally reach out about joining an online ministry that a close brother and close sister have been a part of. I had been yearning for deeper, more frequent fellowship, but I didn’t feel quite ready before to make the commitment. I had already been a part of fellowship and Bible studies with another church, but it turns out it was not enough.
We weren’t meant to do this walk alone. Since joining the ministry this week, I have noticed my struggles become less and less, and I’ve been a lot more focused on the Lord and a lot less focused on the world. All praises to the Most High God, for His love and mercy never fails!
I’m so grateful to be a part of the new ministry now, where brothers and sisters in Christ around the country (and around the world) meet every weekday to pray and worship together, with weekly Bible studies. During the first meeting, I was so overjoyed to be among serious believers who are striving to live holy for the Lord.
It also gave me the much-needed reminder that I am part of an amazing family of brothers and sisters now. Who you were in the world, all your failures, matters no longer when you are in the body of Christ; you can find true love and encouragement in the family of the Lord.
And, if you are like me and once struggled to fit in and struggled with bullying and rejection, the feeling of being welcomed and loved among those you will spend eternity with, is a truly incredible feeling like no other.
Fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ is extremely crucial. We leave ourselves open to the enemy when we are on our own and don’t have constant accountability.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV) says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Some believers go to church on Sunday and that is the only fellowship they have all week. We need so much more. And, in today’s day and age, a lot of us sadly struggle to find a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Biblically-rooted local church. So, the journey can become overwhelming and lonely.
As we near the end of the age, church on Sunday and mid-week Bible study is simply not enough. Remember the fellowship the early disciples had with one another in the Book of Acts. That type of fellowship wasn’t only for back then, it is for today, too.
Acts 2:46-47 reads, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
We must not only seek out a close group of believers for accountability and encouragement but also strive to fellowship more often with the broader family of brothers and sisters in Christ.
During a fellowship call last weekend, a sister brought up the importance of having an accountability partner. We should each have at least one. I’m blessed to have at least two currently in my life.
An accountability partner is a believer who is striving to live holy for the Lord, who can be there 24/7 if you need to call or text to help you when you are struggling with temptation, heaviness, grief, daily struggles, whatever the case may be.
They can help you get back on track with encouragement and counsel. They can also make sure you are staying in the Word, praying and fasting like you should, and encourage you when you feel far from God. They can pray with you and worship with you, and even fast with you.
Remember Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” And 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”
Satan tries to get us to be alone, to think we can do it on our own, without accountability and fellowship, so that we are easier prey to his schemes and temptations he may send our way. Brothers and sisters, we can’t fall prey to his lies, even the ones that sound like us in our head but are really satan-induced ponders.
As Scripture says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”
We need each other, now more than ever, as we see that Day approaching. Now is not the season to do this walk alone. Now is the season to draw nearer to God and nearer to brothers and sisters in Christ.
It’s too close to the Lord’s return for us to be struggling without help from one another. Seek Him while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6).
Until next time, Lord willing, shalom to my brothers and sisters in Christ. May you have a blessed rest of your week and a restful weekend.
Saved by His Grace 
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