One of Satan\u2019s biggest traps we must avoid\nis isolation. No person is an island to themselves. We were not designed to\nlive in prolonged solitude but to interact in a network of healthy\nrelationships. Isolation is not healthy for us physically, emotionally,\nmentally, or spiritually. We need meaningful relationships with other people\nand genuine fellowship with other believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creation itself proves this point. When\nGod surveyed His work after each of the first five days of creation, He saw\nthat \u201cIt was good.\u201d<\/em> On the sixth day, after He formed man in His own\nimage, He observed, \u201cIt was VERY good\u201d<\/em> (Gen. 1:31). Then, on the seventh\nday, God rested. Why? Was He tired? No, God paused to appreciate His work and\nenjoy communion with the man He made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam had God and more pets than a zookeeper prior to the fall. Yet God noticed something was missing. God made the first and only negative observation of His otherwise perfect creation\u2014\u201cIt is NOT GOOD that man should be ALONE; I will make him a helper comparable to him\u201d<\/em> (Gen 2:18, NKJV). God realized Adam wouldn\u2019t thrive in seclusion, so He made him a companion. God knew man needed help. He couldn\u2019t tend the garden, take care of the critters, and produce and raise a family alone. From Adam and Eve\u2019s union came the first family, then clans, communities, towns, cities, and nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One author noted, \u201cAlone and without love we die. Life is as dependent upon relationships as it is on food.\u201d A scientist performed an experiment with puppies. He took two dogs of the same breed and fed them the exact same diet. One was placed in solitary confinement, the other was given interaction with people and other dogs. Over time, it thrived but the isolated pup eventually became sick and died. Satan\u2019s strategy with people is similar\u2014he wants to drive us into isolation. Why? Because when we\u2019re alone, we\u2019re much more vulnerable to temptation, fear, depression, and even suicide. Think about it, when did the serpent tempt and deceive Eve? Apparently, when Adam was absent. When did the devil tempt Jesus? When He was alone in the desert and was weak from fasting for 40 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What happens when you isolate one coal\nfrom the other coals in a fire? The single coal will burn out. When did Elijah\nsuffer his severe bout with depression and battle suicidal thoughts? Not when\nhe was leading the crowd in prayer on Mount Carmel but when he was camping alone\nin a cave. Jezebel put a bounty on his head and he fled from Jezreel to\nBeersheba, the southern border of Israel (about 113 miles), then he walked\nanother day\u2019s journey (20-24 miles). Then he sat under a juniper tree and prayed\nto die. He didn\u2019t really want to die. If he did, he should have stayed where\nJezebel\u2019s henchmen could find him. He was discouraged, emotionally drained,\nphysically fatigued, mentally burned out. God sent an angel to minister to him,\nand feed him, who said, \u201cthe journey is too great for you\u201d <\/em>(1 Kgs. 19:2-8).\nIf a mighty prophet like Elijah needed supernatural help, we also need God\u2019s and\npeople\u2019s help. We can\u2019t do it all alone. We have a unhealthy tendency to\nwithdraw into a shell and push people away when we need them the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When predators like a pack of wolves or a\npride of lions hunt, they usually isolate sick or weak prey from their herds. They\ngang up on one victim instead of attacking a united herd. By instinct they know\nit\u2019s easy pickings. The Bible speaks of the power of partnership, \u201cIf two of\nyou agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them\nby My Father in heaven\u201d<\/em> (Mt. 18:19). The principle is true\u2014one can put\n1,000 to flight, two can put 10,000 to flight (Dt. 32:30). There is strength in\nnumbers, \u201cFive of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten\nthousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you\u201d<\/em> (Lev.\n26:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Solomon shared four\nbenefits of friendship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Increased productivity:<\/strong> <\/strong>Verse 9\u2014\u201cTwo are better than one, because they have a\ngood reward for their labor.\u201d<\/em> A team can accomplish much more than any\nindividual. In a horse pulling contest, the 1st place winner pulled 4,500 pounds.\nThe 2nd place winner pulled 4,000 pounds. Hitched together, they pulled 12,000 pounds.\nThat\u2019s the power of partnership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. A strong support system: <\/strong>Verse 10\u2014\u201cFor if they fall, one will\nlift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no\none to help him up.\u201d<\/em> When you are struggling, strong friends will\nsupport you and vice versa. Geese flying in a V formation can fly much farther\nand faster as a unified team than they can individually. When they get tired,\nthey rotate from the front of the formation to the back where less wind\nresistance makes it easier to fly. The geese in the back honk encouragement to\nthe ones in the front. As John Maxwell says, \u201cTeamwork makes the dream work!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Comfort:<\/strong> Verse 11\u2014\u201cAgain, if two lie down together, they will\nkeep warm; but how can one be warm alone?\u201d<\/em> <\/em>This\nworld is a cold, cruel place. We draw comfort and warmth from people who\nprovide emotional and spiritual support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Protection:<\/strong> Verse 12\u2014\u201cThough one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.\u201d<\/em> Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto to fight with him. We all need people in our corner who have our back. We can\u2019t defeat the devil by ourselves, we need some tag team partners to help us fight the good fight of faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why Jesus sent His disciples out two by two (in pairs)\u2014for accountability, to have a witness, for protection, and for moral and spiritual support. Some negative things have resulted from a year of on and off quarantining. Some people spent so much time alone, they fell into depression and despair. People spent way too much time staring at screens. Suicide increased among certain demographics and addictions rose as coping mechanisms. We are not designed to live in isolation. Don\u2019t let the enemy isolate you from friends, family, or the fold. If it wasn\u2019t good for Adam to be alone in Eden paradise, it\u2019s certainly not good for us to be alone in a broken world. We need human interaction and frequent fellowship with other believers and with God. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of Satan\u2019s biggest traps we must avoid is isolation. No person is an island to themselves. We were not designed to live in prolonged solitude but to interact in a network of healthy relationships. Isolation is not healthy for us physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. We need meaningful relationships with other people and genuine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}