Digging Deeper – A Place of Healing
12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
John 13:12-15 (NLT)
A PLACE OF HEALING
Some of my most spiritually significant healing and growth has come from small groups. Back when my husband and I first started at NorthStar, we were in the throes of infertility. We had been praying and waiting for three years to have a child. It was by far one of the most difficult seasons of life I have walked through. Up to that point, we were walking the journey of infertility alone. We did not have any friends in our circle who understood.
One of the first things we did when moving to NorthStar was to find a small group. At our previous church, we had found our greatest and deepest friendships through small groups. We knew it was important. The Lord was so gracious to us as He led us to a very specific group that felt handpicked for us. In the group we joined, every couple was currently experiencing some form of infertility. Even our group leaders had gone through it on their journey to children. We felt so surrounded and understood. Throughout the months of being in that group, I moved from a hardened, strained heart to one that was prepared to wait in peace for what the Lord had in store. Walking through life together, learning from others’ experiences, mourning with each other, and dreaming with each other—these are all things we found in our small group.
In small groups, we share each other’s burdens, as my husband and I did. We can connect on a more meaningful level. We encourage one another and pray with one another. Sharing our burdens and allowing others to bear them with us is one of the many ways that the Church grows. It draws us closer to each other by growing our love for each other, just as Jesus called us to do in John 13. We were created to be interdependent. We see this from the very beginning in Genesis when God created Adam; it was very good, but it was not good that he was alone. We were not made to hold our burdens alone. We were made to be with others. This is why we see Jesus throughout the Gospels with an inner circle. He needed others to share His burdens, just as we do, and He modeled it for us perfectly.
Courtney Miller is the Special Needs ministry Director at NorthStar Church. She was born a Texas girl, but has lived in Georgia the majority of her life (Go Dawgs!). She married her husband, Chris, in 2012. They have two children with a third on the way.