God at the head as our faithful promise-keeper, a strong hope that we can hold onto in all seasons, and believers consistently around us to spur us on. That sounds like pretty encouraging and secure systems for our lives.
Even so, I know there are times for me when it’s much more difficult to stay in community. Circumstances, busyness, insecurity, hurt, and pride are just some of the things that can make gathering together feel inconvenient, difficult, or unnecessary. However, I’ve watched how God has used others to accomplish things in my life in ways that I had not been able to do on my own. The enemy causes division and disunity but God‘s desire is for His people to live in harmony together.
Ironically, harmony requires the hard stuff. It requires forgiveness and conflict resolution and denying ourselves and being pushed out of our comfort zones. Yet the fruit of unity can be the best example for the not-yet believing world to see who God is and what He and His people are about.