Run your race, but not alone

Martha Olawale

“Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up.” 1 Thessalonian 5:11a

God has always used friends to keep me focused on Him and help me navigate through the complex curves of life. For every season I’ve experienced, there are people God surrounds me with to serve as sources of strength and vigor to my faith. I know that in my walk with God, my world would be a lot more difficult without others running the same race.

I can’t share my salvation story without referencing how it started with discussing Heaven among my high school friends or getting through college without how God blessed me with Jane, Sarah, and Lanre. Even when I thought my yearlong after-college community service would leave me stranded, God surrounded me with people I still call friends today. We spent many nights praising and worshiping in the open fields, attracting other youths who were curious about God.

During the Youth Service, in a state where Christianity was unpopular, my fear became my joy because although I was far from home, I found refuge in my God-hungry community. Together, we prayed, danced, ate, laughed, and left a positive mark on the sands of the land because of our shared love for Christ. That year in a strange land remains my most spiritually rejuvenating time because I learned that no matter where life takes me, God is present, and His people are there. It gave birth to my dogged resolve to follow Jesus wherever He leads.

Yes, my faith is rooted in Christ, but I am not created to walk alone. For each season of life, it’s essential to honor the people God surrounds us with so we don’t miss out on the treasures in each of them. I am like a kid in a candy store when I am with my godly friends because of the soothing oil they pour into my heart each time I’m with them. Their hunger for God fuels mine; their godly wisdom reduces the noise in my life to a whisper, and their presence makes Heaven a little closer. In a world as dark and overwhelming as ours, God lights our path with the torch in each of our hands, and when we shine them together, things become brighter, and we see clearly.

Godly friends enrich our lives and remind us of the joy of walking with Christ. Although it might not always be a bed of roses with friends, as Christians, there is great joy in sharing our path to Heaven, running side by side.