July 18, 2013 (Thursday)
“And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12 HCSB).
I asked for your prayers in yesterday’s blog, that I will keep up a schedule of walking for my health.
When I first started exercising and walking, I was motivated by the fact that I had had a heart attack and a stent had been placed in an artery. The weeks of rehab had conditioned me to follow a routine and participate in some kind of exercise if I wanted to remain healthy.
When I moved to Houston in 2004, to pastor the Timbergrove Baptist Church, I met Leroy Washburn, who had recovered from open heart surgery. He was a faithful deacon. He and I walked together three times every week in a nearby mall. Having a partner insured that we would walk regularly, because we would remind each other when it was time to walk. We enjoyed talking with each other as we walked, and became great friends. Having someone for support really helped in maintaining a schedule of walking.
Several Scripture verses teach us that mutual support is part of the Christian experience. Paul urged the Galatians to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. There is strength in having a friend who helps you and whom you can help.
We are urged to bear one another’s burdens, praying for each other, sharing with each other, helping each other. That’s the New Testament pattern we are to follow today.
After Leroy’s health began to fail, and he was unable to walk with me, I found it harder to maintain the schedule and occasionally would neglect the walk if I was busy doing something else. In the fall of 2010, I returned to Rockport, where I continued the hit and miss walking, and finally, after some months, kept finding excuses not to walk, until I eventually just gave it up. Bad decision. Why did I do that? I honestly don’t know.
Even now, I miss my walks with Leroy. I miss the friendship, the conversations, the sharing of our faith with each other. I was strengthened physically by the walking, but in many other ways by the partnership. If you are attempting to “go it alone” in facing life, you need to ask the Lord to send you a special friend with whom you can share your thoughts and who will share theirs with you.