Several years ago as I was leaving a place of business, a friend engaged me in a conversation regarding the difficulties that were facing our nation at that time. He mentioned that during the depression years people were closer together as friends and neighbors. He emphasized the need existing in the hearts of people for one another. There seemed to have been a closeness prevailing among the citizens of our nation during those trying years.
This brought to my mind a lesson relative to those things that tend to bring people nearer together. First of all, it might be good to mention those things that do not necessarily contribute to a closer relationship with others. Whenever money, material and physical blessings exist in abundance, people are apt to feel self-sufficient and self-reliant, and they become very selfish. A person who has everything feels no need of leaning on others for assistance. The tendency is not to be close to neighbors, friends and even family at times. In a marriage relationship, husbands and wives who both have professions may feel so independent that there is not the need of interdependence. Many are often prone to stay ahead of neighbors regarding the obtaining of the material and the physical. Such blessings can become a curse if an individual feels no need of God and others.
Much to the surprise of many, it is during periods of trials, tribulations, sorrows and adversities that we are drawn nearer to one another. Consider the early years of marriage when the abundance of money was indeed a rare commodity. It may have been during those college years or while in the military but the memories linger concerning those lean years. Yet, you would not trade those years for anything. Why? It is because such difficulties brought you nearer to one another as husband and wife. Think of the times when a baby was sick or a mate was confined to bed for a lengthy period of time. It was then that the family felt the need of one another. It is when a loved dies that the family leans heavily on one another for strength. Even during a national crisis like the destruction of the Trade Center buildings, there was good to be found. There was the tendency for people to feel the need of others for strength and comfort.
The Lord has taught in the Holy Scriptures that members of the church should feel the need of one another. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” He also stated “that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25). The Hebrews writer spoke of a time when Christians “endured a great struggle with sufferings” and others “had compassion on them that were in bonds” (Hebrews 10:32-34). The Jerusalem church suffered persecution, but such adversity caused the members to be “of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). We are taught to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). It is when the odds are terribly against us that we should be strengthened and stand together.
Finally, the admonition is given in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” This involves all of a person’s relationship with God. When we trust in God and obey Him He will surely be with us. He will never fail us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
