Who Is In Your Corner?
Pastor Greg Simon
We each must work out our faith on an individual basis, but we’re never meant to run solo in “the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Who is on your team? Like a prizefighter entering the ring for a championship fight, who is waiting in your corner with towel in hand, ready to give you water, rub your shoulders, and encourage you?
We have many kinds of relational connections — acquaintances (all around us), associates (friends), advisors (mentors) and assignments (mentees). Each serve different purposes in your journey on earth, but some folks are divinely called to your side. What kinds of people are in your corner? Are you in the corner for someone else?
Not surprisingly, moments of pain or seasons of difficulty often reveal who truly supports you. Evaluate your relationships. Who is there for you in difficult times? Who is only present during good times? Not everyone is called by God to walk with you. But, your brothers and sisters in Christ are called along side of you; your family at Valley Fellowship wants to do life with you.
We all benefit from having an encourager in our own lives and in being an encourager in someone else’s. You can be the perfect person to release hope or energy into someone else. Our words have the power to lift people up and to push people forward. Our words have the potential to release faith, healing, victory, new beginnings. “Encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT). Don’t be stingy; let encouragement flourish.
Consider the significant lifestyle of “Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means ‘Son of Encouragement’)” (Acts 4:36 NLT). Something about the way Joseph lived made the early believers give him a new name — Barnabas. When he entered a room, encouragement entered.
What do people think when they see us coming? “Here comes encouragement.” Or, do they feel more like: “Here comes discouragement; here comes whining; here comes despair; here comes complaining; here comes defeat.” May that never be what we leave behind!
We benefit from people who make a conscious effort to encourage us. If your current friends do not make a conscious effort to build you up, then they will wear you down. Who really belongs in your corner? Choose your tribe wisely. Welcome people who support and build you up, especially during challenging seasons. Seek connection with people who strengthen your faith and increase your confidence and dependence upon the Lord. Regardless of circumstances, God-called folks in your corner stick with you even when facing setbacks or making mistakes.
We benefit from the support and counsel of trusted friends. Godly connections are your God-given protection from the enemy, and sometimes even from yourself. “The Godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray” (Proverbs 12:26 NLT). Good friends tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
You find all kinds of helpful relationships in your membership and covenant commitment at Valley. You’ll find a uplifting Barnabas in your corner encouraging you not to give up. You’ll find a prophetic Nathan in your corner speaking the truth to you in love. You’ll find a righteous Paul in your corner telling you to suck it up and run your race. Yes! You will. Get connected and discover what God has for you.
Connections in the Body support us at our weakest, cheer us on at our best, comfort us in grieving, and inspire us along the way. Now, who’s corner are you in today? Be a Barnabas to someone else.
A part of “a right way for us” is that we be a church that: is expanding; prays and intercedes; is Spirit-driven and Spirit-filled; preaches basic truth; builds Biblical community; fulfills Biblical purpose; and impacts the region. We are united in purpose to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and to advance His Kingdom. In 2023, we will see much, much more of God’s Kingdom!