Hand in Hand

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. (Mark 6:7-13 ESV). Happy Independence Day! I hope you will be enjoying a holiday with loved ones. While I am not specifically writing about “freedom” today, I do want to follow up yesterday’s devotional a bit. In that devotional I wrote about the need we have to take some responsibility in our healing by encouraging you to reach out to Jesus just as the woman who touched Jesus’ garment did. Today I want to add another dimension to that principle. We are not alone in our journey. In our reading today the disciples are sent into the world in pairs. Aware of the importance of their mission, and aware, perhaps, of their feelings of inadequacy, Jesus pairs his disciples. It is strange to me that we often swing from one end of the spectrum of relationship. On the one hand we exercise fierce independence doing our best to stand alone to face our challenges. That often is commendable. At other times we seek the help of community. We find our help in the group at large. It seems to me, because we jump from the one to the many, from self to congregation, without ever forming a solid, soul-deep relationship with one other believer, we suffer for it. There are times when a Christian must stand alone. And there are times when it is good for us to gather in lavish numbers, reminding us that we are not alone in the Christian life. But the Christian life also rests on teams of twos. This allows a deeper knowledge of each other that our prayers might be more specific and efficacious. It allows for a greater degree of support and accountability. We may encouragement one another from a perspective unattainable otherwise. I hope you have someone like that in your life. I know that it is easier said than done. I have known many people to travel their journey never being able to “find” that common disciple to walk through life with; however, I am convinced that the Lord desires us to have such a person in our life. It is true that these two-by-two arrangements cannot be structured or programmed. It is also true that God desires to make that happen in our lives. They form by his mysterious work in our life. So, let me encourage you to look for that person. Be intentional in your search. Pray diligently that Gods would show you that person. Your journey will be much the better for having someone to walk hand in hand with through life.