NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

May 20 - Community benefits

Scripture focus: Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 (NIV)

It's not unusual for someone to come up to me after a celebration service and ask who squealed. I once had a television viewer call and complain that I told her story on the air – I have no clue who this woman is, what her story is, or even why she thought the story was hers. In truth, the story was mine. It was a very personal example but she heard it as her very personal example.

This kind of over-identification is not unusual. It stems from the misperception our stories are unique, and that we ourselves are terminally unique (and alone in our suffering). The writer of Ecclesiastes says it best: there's nothing new under the sun.

That's why living in community helps. We discover our not-aloneness.

After the sting and loss of our individuality in the arena of suffering dissipates, we can discover some healing properties of community and collective story sharing.

My personal favorite is the blessing of learning.

If we're not unique, and our problems are more universal than we realized, then perhaps others have found solutions that we haven't acquired. This is great news.

Another big benefit is the blessing of specialness. No longer is our identity limited to our unique brand of suffering. We don't have to gain an identity from our pain. Instead, we can discover what makes us truly special – our God-created identity.

That's huge.

I realize that some of us have gotten used to our identity as terminally flawed and wounded – but there's more to us than our "less than" ways. May you find your way back to God and your true identity!

Recommended reading: Psalm 32-34

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