Ecclesiastes 4:12: “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken” (NLV).

We are better together when we stand in the gap for each other.  Each of us has gaps between what we are and what we could be.  God did not design us to stand alone. There is real strength in having each other’s back, to stand in this gap for each other. In Ecclesiastes 4:12, this reality expands to the strength of a triple-braided cord. With Christ’s hope & presence we are all empowered to stand against anything that would break one standing on their own.

God calls us, as Christ-followers, to do what is best for those around us not just focusing on ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1, it says, “I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”  

Growth comes in living out our faith in community, where growth and serving are interconnected. When people show up in the middle of our gap, it isn’t by accident. God will give us the resources to meet the needs and stand in the gap of others. Let’s imitate Christ and reach out to help others who are working to fill in their gaps.  

As we are beginning to come out of the stay-at-home order, is there someone either virtually or face-to-face that you could reach out to who needs to have someone stand in the gap with them or have their back? Or, maybe, you need to take a step and ask someone to stand in the gap with you.