The Brotherhood

About a week or so ago, I wrote a post on the change I made to the title of this blog call Words Through the Wreckage. At the end of that post, I asked that those that read it pray that God would wreck me during this last week. Well, sometimes we should be careful what we pray for I guess. God answered in BIG ways, and I'm still in the process of being restored. God has wrecked me in such a beautifully uncomfortable way, that I haven't even really been able to put it into words. I've sent a few people the following prayer request since my wrecking... "Pray for guidance, direction, patience and restoration. I can't really say specifically why, but I will let you know when the time is right". I tell you what, the time still isn't completely right. I'm still not 100% sure what's next, or exactly how God is wrecking me, but I can tell you that I feel it with every fiber of my body. One of the answers to my prayer to be restored since being broken, has been the overwhelming community that I have been blessed to fellowship with in the last few weeks. I've written and talked about community until I have been blue in the face... but this time... this post is different. This is going to focus on a specific part of my community. It's going to focus on The Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood, is a community of strong, faithful, loving, legit, manly, Christian men. The Brotherhood that I have been blessed with reaches far beyond the community of Columbus, or Indiana for that matter. In fact, this post about The Brotherhood, was sparked by a fellow brother who actually currently resides in Missouri. Now, this text came from a brother who I had shared the above prayer request with, but the timing of this message was impeccable. Last night, I had an opportunity to be downright real with my small group, and after getting home I couldn't stop thinking about the MAN I wanted to become, the MAN that I had been striving to be, and the MAN that God created me to be. I had a brother reach out to my last night while I was thinking about all of this, which sparked some thoughts about brothers. Then, I spent a lot of time in prayer last night, and did some reading (more on the book I'm reading a little later). So this morning I get the following message:

"Hey man! Don't limit what God can do through you today! Mark 9:23. Be intentional about being relational with those who you aren't close to and believe God wants to do something great through you. Have a good one!"...

 Let me tell you why this text meant so much to me this morning. First off, I miss the guy that sent this to me, so hearing from him is always a great way to start a day. Secondly, I love that he sent "Mark 9:23" but didn't write what it says... he was holding me accountable for reading my Bible (as I am too, so click on the link and read it!). Maybe that's not why Chris did that, but to me it's what I needed. The verse was so fitting for my day, my week, and my life the last few months. I love the encouragement I received from this message, but I also love that it was sent from a brother in Christ. Don't get me wrong, I love encouragement from anyone. I cherish my sisters in Christ too, and appreciate the impact they have on my daily life. There is just something about honest, real, relationship with men that share the same beliefs and struggles as you. In fact, the Bible even tells us that strong fellowship with other men is essential to growth... Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another". Surrounding ourselves with strong Godly men, breeds strength. It's that simple. It gets better... The Word even goes on to tell us how awesome it is when men come together in fellowship-- Psalm 133:1 "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live in unity!" and that is absolute truth! I have felt it, I have experienced it, I have seen it before my own eyes. It is good and pleasant. Living in unity with our brothers is so key.

I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for my brothers. The funny thing is, most of you that know me pretty well, know that some of my closest friends have been females. In fact, a few of the people I consider my best friends are girls. I used to get irritated with my friendships with those of the same gender as myself. That's because I wasn't utilizing them the way I needed too. I wasn't leaning on them as much as I was using them to stand taller in the eyes of the world. Instead of using their strength to strengthen myself, I was trying to hide my weaknesses behind theirs. Instead of of leading, I was constantly following. I was approaching brotherhood in a terrible way. Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity". My brothers are here to assist me when I face struggles, trials, and adversity. And after they pull me through, it's my job to continue to help pull them through when they face the same or similar struggles, trials, and adversity. I am thankful for adversity... but I am more thankful for the brothers that were born to help me face it.

THIS is a thank you to my brothers. I am blessed to be a part of your Brotherhood.

Grace and Peace