Two is a couple, Three... even better.

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New Living Translation)

Last week, during our Saturday group run, one of the girls in our group commented on how much easier the Saturday runs seemed to her.  She wasn't sure if it was because together we were running a slower pace than her mid-week runs, or if it was just the comraderie.  After asking her a few questions, it seemed like our pace was consistent with what she was running during the week... so the answer was not our pace, but the group itself.

If you read my entry last week about dealing with mental challenges, you may have thought: "That's nice and encouraging, but I'm not strong enough to deal with mental challenges on my own... I can't do it by myself."  If you would have said that to me, I would have said, "Exactly. You can't do it on your own. You need other people to run with you."

People are not meant to be alone.  They were not designed to handle challenges all by themselves.  If we go back to the beginning, we see that mankind was made in the image of God... and if we look closely, we see that God Himself is not singular: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...' (Genesis 1:26a)."  God is One, but He is One in three, aka "The Trinity" (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).  Later, in a closer view of the creation process, we see that after creating Adam, God said: "Is is not good that man should be alone... (Genesis 2:18a)."

There is a myth in American Christian culture that says we prove our strength and maturity by how well we handle things alone.  If we admit that we need help, then we admit to our weakness and lack of faith, etc. Sincere believers will say things like, "All I need is God... If all I have is God, then I'm good."  This is not true.  Jesus Himself said that there were two great commandments: 1) love God and 2) love people.  In fact, if we look closely at the 10 commandments, we see that the first four commandments have to do with loving God, and the remaining six have to do with loving people.  So if we walk according to the "all-I-need-is-God" premise, then we are leaving out 60% of the commandments.  It is true that God has all you need, but more often than not, God gets the things we need to us through people.

Needing people is admitting to a weakness in ourselves, but it is in our weakness that we find strength.  Saying that we aren't self-sufficient is humility at its basis... And the word of God has some interesting things to say about humility:

"...Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5b-7

Peter mentions submitting to one another and submitting to God... walking in humility with one another and walking in humility with God.  God gives grace to the humble... He gives grace to those who admit they don't have it all and can't do it all by themselves.

I am an introvert by nature, so I really like running by myself. Introverts get energized during their times alone. Extroverts get energized when they are around people. So, I look forward to my runs alone, as it gives me time to focus and get ready for the rest of the day.  But, as much as I like running alone, the last time I trained for a marathon, I knew that I needed to train with people.  I tried to tell as many people as I could that I was training for a marathon (not because I was trying to brag on my endeavor, but because I knew I needed their support), and I sought out a group to train with on those long, long Saturday morning runs.  Could I have toughed it out by myself? Possibly.  But I knew that by submitting to others, I would find grace; and grace was what I needed much more than the ego trip that I would receive by saying I did it all by myself.

When we are liked with people there is a flow of grace and life that is not there when we are doing things on our own.  In God's economy, 1+1 does not equal 2. His economy is exponential. see Deuteronomy 32:29-31. I think King David of old said it best: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! For there the Lord commanded the blessing - Life forevermore (Psalm 133:1,3b)." When we link arms together, God commands a blessing of life to flow over us and through us.

So back to my story at the beginning of this post.  Why did the Saturday group runs seem so much easier, even though the terrain and distances covered were more challenging? She was experiencing the commanded blessing of God that comes when people link arms in unity... she was experiencing the grace of God that is given when we humbly submit to one another.  I will end with this encouragement from the writer of Hebrews:

"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25 (New Living Translation)

Let's run the race... together.