Sandy Ford: Sandy Ford serves as the SBCV Southeast Women’s Ministry Team Representative. She is a Bible teacher, retreat speaker, and pastor’s wife. Sandy loves serving women by encouraging them to grow in their relationship with Christ and embrace His purpose in their daily lives.
Several months ago, after returning from the grocery store one afternoon, I was struck with the overwhelming realization of feeling disconnected from others. I noticed that people seemed to avoid eye contact, not even looking in my direction, making any type of meaningful conversation difficult. I asked God to help me sort through the emotions I was experiencing, amid the daily interruptions of normal life and the disconnections swirling around continuously. Words like pandemic, unprecedented, and quarantine became everyday words and weighed heavily on everyone.
The dictionary states the definition of “disconnected” as having a connection broken. In thinking about the past 22 months and the impact of being disconnected, I asked God how to approach building connections with those around me, despite the current challenges. After all, God sent His son Jesus to provide us with the remedy for disconnection. Jesus is the master of fixing broken things, especially broken connections, broken relationships, and broken people.
God brought to my mind the following verse: Ecclesiastes 4:12 – And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. I remembered how thankful I was when my husband and I could return to church after several weeks of isolation and how inspiring it was to be back in church, connected to fellow believers. By being united together, it brought accountability, encouragement, and hope. We need each other, we need to pray for each other, and we desperately need the Word of God, more now than ever!! With God’s help, we can overcome the challenges we face with confidence and be victorious!
Another great benefit of staying connected to God is that He heals our broken hearts, if we give our pain to Him. Psalms 147:3 states that He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. As we trust God, surrender our brokenness, and realize the unlimited power of His Son, Jesus Christ, we can be vessels of hope and courage, and form intentional connections. We can meet the eyes of people around us, speak words of encouragement and love, and ask Jesus to open doors that will lead to deeper connections and renewed faith. Proverbs 3:5-6 says to Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. We may not understand much of what is taking place, but we can trust God with our whole hearts and know He is in control.
As we pray and seek ways to build new connections and rebuild weakened ones, amazing things will happen. I have found people usually respond to a kind word, a prayer card, a care package, a phone call/prayer call, and many other ways, as God leads. In a world that seems to be in chaos, we can be bright lights, offering the calm that a relationship with Jesus brings. We can inspire faith and hope, as we seek to stay close to Jesus Christ, and then be intentional as we connect to those around us. After all, we know the remedy for disconnection is faith in Jesus!
