The Importance of Support

I am very thankful for the support system that God has put into place in my life. There are several key people that play this role for me, but none is closer to me than my husband. He and I are on the "front lines", if you will, with one another. When I am down, he generally hears about it before anyone else. And on the rare occasion that he is having a bad day, I am usually the first to hear about it.

I must confess that I have not always been very good about supporting Mark when he is down without joining him. I tend to be the more pessimistic (I prefer to call it realistic) of the two of us. This is part of the reason that it is good that our support system includes more than just each other. God has provided several people in our lives who know us and love us unconditionally. When we are blinded to the truth, it is comforting to know that we have others who love us enough to set us straight.

In case you haven't noticed, life is not always easy. It doesn't always go as we plan. Sometimes things happen that do not feel good. We may embrace the adventure that is this life one day and want to run screaming away from it the next. Our walk is not always as confident as our talk. This seeming contradiction is not hypocritical. It is simply part of being human, and it is a primary reason that it is not good for any of us to isolate ourselves.

Even King Solomon, arguably one of the wisest people to ever live, recognized the foolishness of trying to go it alone. He wrote in Ecclesiastes chapter four:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan.
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Have you ever picked up a stick and snapped it in two? It breaks pretty easily. Pick up two sticks, and they are more difficult to break. Three sticks are not easily broken when held together. A fistful of sticks together can be impenetrable.

Each of us falls down, and each of us needs those who love us enough to help us back up. Do you have a support system in place in your life? Who can you turn to when the adventure of life seems to overpower you?