This past Sunday at church, the sermon was about spiritual warfare. It was about how we as Christians need to be protecting ourselves against the ways that our enemy attacks. Then the preacher had a couple come to the front and talk about how they seek involvement with other Christians through small groups at the church to provide spiritual protection.
This couple is a military couple. Their words dug deep into my heart as they both explained their military life and how they desperately needed to be involved with other Christians in order to grow in Christ, have a protected marriage, and spiritual protection. As I listened to them both, but more specifically the wife, I stored away their words as warnings and advice for my own life.
Which leads me to why I’m writing this post. I feel that the advice, warnings, and encouragement I heard needs to be passed on to each one of us. It needs to be a reminder that we all need fellowship and involvement with other Christians, but especially for military wives who are constantly moving and being isolated over and over as we move to new areas with unknown people.
Recognize how our enemy attacks us
One of the biggest ways our enemy attacks us is through isolating us. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” How do lions usually attack their prey? They single out one of the animals from the herd rather than trying to attack the whole herd. Then they isolate that one animal. Our enemy does the same exact thing! Isn’t that freaky??!!
So knowing that he will try his hardest to isolate us, we need to do everything in our power to involve ourselves. He wants to isolate us from Christians, we need to involve ourselves with Christians.
He wants to isolate us from Christians, we need to involve ourselves with Christians.
As military wives, we are constantly moving, uprooting, and seeing the friends we make move and uproot. People are coming and going faster in our lives than in most other people’s lives. It is easier for us to become isolated as we fall into the temptation that it’s just better if we don’t meet people; it’s less heartbreak.
I have fallen into that temptation many times. First when I was engaged. I didn’t want to get close to the people in my life group because I was just going to leave in a month or two. The second was when my husband and I found a life group at our first duty station. I didn’t want to get close to those women because we were just going to leave in three months anyways. And even now I struggle with that temptation, especially not knowing how long we’re going to be where we are currently at.
But those temptations are not from Christ at all! It’s from the enemy’s attempts to isolate us in order for him to devour us. The worst thing we can do is fall into that temptation!
How to get seek involvement with other Christians
It sounds so simple that in order to keep our enemy from isolating us, we must get involved. But when it comes to actually doing it, it’s a lot harder. Ask yourself these questions: “Even though I’m only here at this duty station with my husband/family for only ___ months/years, would I rather go through it alone with no support from other Christians? Or would I rather push myself to find at least one friend/couple to sharpen me and my husband as we go through this season of life?”
There’s always a part of me that struggles with putting myself out there to meet new Christian women. Though I know it will be so good and such a blessing to my life (and hopefully theirs too), I get so caught up in the emotions of being nervous, of being vulnerable, and of not wanting to meet them so I don’t have to say good-bye later.
But it is my prayer that each one of us military wives says ‘yes’ to the second question. That’s the first step!!! Recognizing that we DO need fellowship and other Christians in our lives is huge!
Now what??
Find a church.
Not one of those big mega churches that makes it that much easier to slip in and out, but a church that is good sized with good, deep teaching and that has small groups and a ladies bible study. Most churches have small bible study groups and a ladies bible study, so it won’t be hard to find one.
Even in a church, though, you can become isolated. If you come and go without ever building relationships at that church, it leaves you as a target to being isolated. Regardless, getting in a church is one of the best things you can do because it opens the door for further involvement.
Get involved in the church
Getting involved within the church will help keep you from being isolated. Serve in the children’s classrooms if you are good with kids. Help greet on Sunday mornings. There are plenty of opportunities.
Get involved in a bible study
I will tell you that it’s a little difficult to get involved right away if you move/PCS over the summer. Unfortunately, many small groups and bible studies take a ‘vacation’ over the summer because everyone is off doing things and it’s hard for everyone to meet together. But don’t let that keep you from trying!
There are two ways to get involved with bible studies: either through your church or through a community bible study. Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) is a community bible study that isn’t tied to a specific locational church, but that has hundreds of locations around the world. If you’re looking for a deep study, this is the place to be at.
Start having one-on-one’s with a couple ladies
This will allow for a deeper connection and greater accountability. Last year, I started meeting with one of the lady’s from my BSF group and it helped me tremendously! It gave me someone to talk to, to get advice from, and to just share my life with. Plus, I loved hearing her testimony and her life story too! She became a very dear friend at a time when I needed it the most.
Just Do It
There’s no other way to get involved than to just do it. You have to take that first step, and then the next step, and then the one after that in order to involve yourself and to protect yourself. God created us to be communal with each other, not to live life on our own. As Christians, He designed us to all function together, have fellowship together, and be whole as His Church.
Struggling with Getting Involved
I so understand if you’re the military wife that struggles time and time again to get involved with other Christians. It becomes tiresome to continue to make yourself vulnerable to new people more often than you’d like. But pray about it. Ask God to give you the strength and courage (as He gave Joshua [Joshua 1]) to seek out other Christians, especially Christian women. Ask God to open up doors to involvement, to bring people into your life (as well as your husbands life). He will do this! But we also have to be willing to act on those open doors.
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As military wives, we need to be searching involvement with other Christians. Because if we don’t, we become targets for the enemy to isolate and kill.
I encourage you to get involved in any way you can with other believers. It is my prayer that you would be protected from isolation as you get involved. It is also my prayer that as you are looking for and seeking out involvement, that you won’t be attacked because you’re currently isolated (especially after moving/PCSing). You can do this! You can get involved! And you will be forever blessed when you do.
What ways have you become involved with other Christians, either in the past or currently?? We could all use the ideas:)