It is so wonderful to see a growing sense of community and love and compassion in our group! I realized this week how deep the desire to help and encourage one another is.

As we go forward and explore a veritable treasure trove of the most wonderful and amazing truths laid out for us in the Word, it is likely that we will all bump into truths and or areas of our hearts, minds and bodies that need extra healing. What we read may sound so impossible, so utterly too good to be true, or so foreign to our way of thinking, or potentially so contradictory to what we presently know, that our emotions and hearts may respond strongly at times. All of these things are indications that God is revealing new things to us, is at work in us, healing us, building us up, growing us up, equipping us for His work, and establishing us in His Word, so that we will not be easily swayed or shaken away from His Kingdom.

We are seeing some measure of this in our group times already which affords us precious and wonderful opportunities to encourage and build one another up. I have been blessed to see such love and compassion from each one in the group.

A group setting is very tricky in the sense that it is very nearly impossible for a person who is struggling (physically, spiritually or emotionally) to do so without someone else in the group noticing. As caring group members, we naturally offer anyone who seems to be in distress encouragement/ministry while we are in the group setting. As we do not want to put anyone on the spot, we must strive to protect everyone who is struggling or vulnerable, establishing a better protocol is important.

I think this best falls to myself, or at times Angie during a group time. We will likely take a brief time to pray for and acknowledge the situation in a group appropriate way. I am almost always able to stay afterwards for further ministry and prayer if this brief ministry is not sufficient.

I also recognize, though that the need for encouragement or prayer might not wait until the end of a meeting. I have asked Angie, Andrea and Helen to watch for these situations  and respond to this need by gently tapping someone in this position on the shoulder and discreetly asking them if they are ok. If not, they will be available to leave the room quietly and spend a bit of time encouraging and praying with anyone who has this need.

Now after our meeting wraps up, I absolutely encourage you to go up to the person privately, if you believe Holy Spirit has led you, to encourage and ask them gently if they would appreciate prayer or encouragement and if so, by all means follow through. We want to encourage one another to take steps to make sure that this attention is welcome before sharing.

The reality is, we may not see someone “feel better” during our times together even when we do our uttermost to help. This is ok too. Just agape-ing (God-style-loving), on one another and caring for one another sincerely, speaks volumes.

The other part of the equation is that these strong responses are often tied into challenging and very impactful questions. God cares about every thought, every tear and is more than happy to answer all your questions in full. It is very likely that we will hit questions that we simply won’t hear a “satisfying” answer to. This is just fine. God heard it and He has promised to answer.

Keep in mind, sometimes the group in general may not be quite ready to explore a certain topic, in which case I may ask if it is ok for me to defer it for a time when I can collect the appropriate scriptures and prepare a group appropriate answer, or I might offer to be available to discuss it with someone one on one or in a smaller group setting. We have 12 more topics to explore in depth so we will have lots of opportunities to explore many different verses and discover our answers.

Most of us will have to wrestle some things out privately with God. Y’all know my primary heart in these things is to point back to the Word and say, go read it for yourself, figure out what it really says and then live accordingly.

At the end of day, my own place of rest is knowing that all the answers we are looking for are in His book and that He has promised to lead us, each one, into all truth. This is in part what the Holy Spirit is doing for each one of us. It is so wonderful to think about the fact that He who began the good work in each one of us is fully committed to finishing it!