Let Your Friends Carry You Through Hard Times 
By Rick Warren

“By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (NCV)

When you go through major disappointments in life, it’s natural to want to pull back and isolate yourself. You want to handle it yourself. You want to keep your losses, failures, mistakes, and crises a secret. You want to withdraw. But this is a terrible idea!

When you go through disappointment, that’s when you need your friends the most. God doesn’t intend for you to handle pain and stress by yourself. It’s healthiest to accept help from others.

We were wired for each other. We need each other. We’re relational beings. One of the first things God said in the Garden of Eden was, “It isn’t good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18 TLB). We’re made to be in relationships.

Job 6:14 says, “When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them” (The Message).

There will be times in your life when you are in so much pain, you will say, “I don’t even believe in God right now!” You need to have friends who will come alongside you and encourage you in your belief.

There will come a time when you’ll say, “I don’t have any faith right now. I’m full of doubt.” That’s when you need your friends to step in and say, “That’s okay. We will have faith for you. We will trust God for you in this.”

The Bible says, “By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 NCV). What is the law of Christ? It’s this: Love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible commands us to help each other. Every time you help somebody who’s going through pain, you are fulfilling the law of Christ.

Trying to handle trouble by yourself will only make you more tired and stressed. You need to accept the help of others and let your friends carry you through it, knowing that God is with you all the way. He is at work in your circumstances, even when you can’t see what he’s doing.

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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