No One Walks Alone

The Voice of Zion September 2025 - Home & Family Articles --

In God’s kingdom, none of us walks alone. Each believer faces seasons of need – whether adjusting to a new congregation, carrying heavy trials, enduring medical struggles, or battling temptations of faith. At other times, we are given the opportunity to support and encourage one another. The writings that follow remind us that being a help often begins with small acts of love: a greeting, a visit, a listening ear, or a prayer. In noticing the needs of those around us and stepping forward in faith, we strengthen not only our neighbor, but also ourselves, as together we travel heavenward.

Helping Others in Need 

Rebecca Byman 

The Bible teaches us to help one another and to also accept help in our time of need. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12). All of us will find ourselves in need many times during our lives, as well as in a supporting role. Our mutual goal is to support all, to prevent the devil from using a trial to undermine anyone’s faith, and instead to foster love and encourage believing. With that goal in mind, it’s good to consider that God made us with various temperaments, strengths and weaknesses. None is better than the other, and all complement each other to accomplish God’s work. 

We All Have Needs  

At some time in our lives, we all have needs. We notice first the needs of close friends and family, and those of local congregants whose hardships we have been made aware of through diaconate work or simply word of mouth while we are visiting one another. Sometimes the needy one is close to someone in our congregation, but we’ve never met them. Sometimes, they are not part of God’s kingdom but known to the congregation in another way. And, sometimes, they are the person we are visiting, and prior to the visit they perhaps haven’t had the strength to ask for help. 

Many Types of Needs 

These needs can be temporal or spiritual, as well as visible and invisible. Any of us can find ourselves struggling with temporal afflictions: perhaps our health takes a turn for the worse. Maybe our finances cause intense stress. Addictions can try our faith. Grief may sap our joy. Without doubt, we all can confess that in our endeavor we have daily spiritual needs of the gospel.  

And, of course, all who have left faith or have never found themselves in God’s kingdom have a great need of repentance and the forgiving gospel. 

Who Can See Our Needs? 

Do our escorts see our needs? Many needs are not public knowledge. For example, most people tend to keep their financial situation private. Or, addiction comes with stigma attached, and it may seem prudent to hide it from the public. Maybe our relationships are in distress, but we feel we can figure it out on our own. Certainly our spiritual battles can be invisible. We fall prey to the devil’s sermon to not discuss our confusion with others, lest people judge us.  

Others can’t help us if they don’t know of our needs. We must humble ourselves and heed God’s instruction to ask for help in our time of need. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). 

Pride, Humility and Personality 

Perhaps most people struggle to ask for help. Our God-given temperaments can dictate whether we immediately cry for help or stoically suffer in silence. Different people seek different types of support. We read about someone’s journey through their trial on an online social network platform. Here, an afflicted person may receive love and encouragement from a vast population of caring people. Someone else, on the other hand, who doesn’t like being the center of attention, will request privacy. That doesn’t mean they prefer no help, however.  

Also, there are those who don’t know they need help. Some mental illnesses cause the afflicted one to reject help that they feel they do not need. In addition to mental health needs, many with spiritual needs do not see themselves as in need of care. 

Why Do We Care for Our Neighbor? 

Jesus’s command is to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39). Our neighbors are all people we encounter in our lives. 

In God’s kingdom our neighbors are special. Our goal is to encourage each other in times of need, lest the devil find a vulnerable spot to attack and gain a foothold. We are taught to be our brother’s keeper, not just to admonish him when we see his error, but also to strengthen his faith in his time of trial, as Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ tired arms during a battle (Exod. 17:12,13). The tempter can come from any angle. 

Perhaps we feel jealousy and fixate on why there is such an enormous outpouring of love for certain people and not others? Or, we fail to notice someone who is yearning for friends and becomes bitter when, week after week, so few acknowledge them at services until they eventually stop coming. Definitely in our own time of trial, we may doubt and ask why God has allowed this to happen to us. Sometimes we fail to do as God has asked, instead thinking someone else will help. Or, in our pride, we struggle to ask for help as God instructed. These things are part of our battle and it is important to again and again renew our love for one another and humble our own pride and ask for help, God’s grace, for ourselves from our believing escorts. We need each other to reach our goal of heaven. 

How Can I Help? 

All of us have some type of God given gift to offer. Not all of us are capable of laboring over various acts of service for another. Some of us are impressive listeners who may relieve someone’s burden because they feel heard. For others, it feels natural to give gifts. Our personalities cause us to prefer to show care to another in a certain way. Likewise, we may appreciate one type of help for ourselves over another. In the case that we feel helpless – with no gift to give, or because our would-be recipient is not interested in physical gifts, we are fortunate to all have a gift from the heavenly Father: prayer. 

Whatever strengths and weaknesses we find in ourselves, let’s share with each other freely and heed the wisdom in Proverbs 11:25, “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” In this way we both bolster our own strength, as well as our neighbors’, and together we help each other get to heaven.  

Help for the Struggle 

Lance Clarke 

A medical struggle can be one of the heaviest crosses a child of God endures in life. And whether it starts as a mental or a physical condition, these tend to intersect with time. Coming from a quadriplegic who has carried a medical issue for twenty years, I know firsthand the burdens that come with physical disabilities. This condition does not just affect me personally, but all my loved ones are affected by it too. 

The best way to make a medical struggle into the best-case scenario possible is to avoid thinking of it as a burden or as something that makes your loved one’s lives’ harder. There are also many joys and blessings that come with a medical struggle. 

After my car accident, I did not know how I would have the mental fortitude to live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I prayed constantly to our heavenly Father for strength and guidance. God answered my prayers by sending me brothers and sisters in faith to lift my spirits. People came to my arms with love and compassion. I did not know it at the time, but the support from my fellow travelers in faith took me from a dark place and breathed life back into me. 

Believers picked me up and brought me to where I could hear the Word of God or join social events. When I say that they picked me up, I literally mean that they physically lifted me out of my wheelchair and put me into the passenger seat. During the transfer, my buddies would give me a whisker rub on my cheek and say that I was the luckiest man in the world to be tickled by their whiskers. Laughter would ensue and the feeling that I was a burden was quickly extinguished. Some of those rides are my fondest memories. We visited about life and what mattered most, keeping faith number one and preaching the gospel to each other. 

As the years rolled by, friends came and went, but there was always a believing friend or relative in my life ready to help me out. There is one brother in faith who I had a special kinship with. We talk on the phone on a consistent basis, and I often think I’d not be a child of God if not for him. He knows me inside and out and during the roughest moments in my life, God always gave him words to guide me back to the flock. 

When I was stuck in bed with a pressure sore for over a year and literally going out of my mind with cabin fever, the devil quickly made himself at home in my mind. I went down rabbit holes researching the Bible to justify the sin that was on my conscience. My dear friend in faith listened to me and pointed out how the devil was leading me to misinterpret the Bible. He reminded me that I needed to understand faith like a little child, with humility and trust.

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15).. We would get into arguments and deep discussions, but we always washed our sins away by preaching the forgiveness of sins to each other. 

There is a piece of Scripture that has brought me comfort over the years and answers any questions that I might have: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5,6, NIV). 

If you or a loved one are currently going through a medical struggle or facing an obstacle, remember these words of wisdom, “Good days give happiness, bad days give experience, and the worst days give lessons.”  

Welcome Others 

Guy Shulda 

Moving to a new congregation can be exciting but also a struggle. Some may wonder, am I going to fit in, will I make friends?  

After Emily and I got married, we moved from Cokato, Minn., to my home congregation of Longview, Wash. We were excited to start our life together in Longview, but we had doubts and questions. I was very nervous my wife Emily would not find a group of friends and would not have others to talk to.  

My doubts were quickly subdued after a few weeks. Many of the women at church were welcoming and invited Emily to their homes and to do some activities with them. I was filled with joy to see a smile on my wife’s face, to see her with new friends and to see her active with the congregation.  

This was a good lesson for me. I’ve often thought after this experience about the times I’ve seen a new face at church, perhaps a Finnish kid visiting for the summer, and have not said “Hi” or invited them to go do something. These small acts of kindness can make a world of difference in someone’s walk of faith. You can build a lasting friendship with someone just by that small action.  

We all have heard the Golden Rule and try to live by these words: “And as ye would that men should do to you do as ye would also” (Luke 6:31). Yet, so many times we see a new face at Sunday services but do not have the strength to go and introduce ourselves.  

Remember the times you were in a new place with no one to talk to? Maybe an individual came up and talked to you. That individual might have felt hesitant, but God gave them just enough strength to extend a hand and say “Hi.” You probably remember that person and may have become good friends with them. 

These are examples for us to remember when we see that person who doesn’t have anyone to talk to or a new member of the congregation. Find the strength to go visit with them. And, if you are a person new to a congregation, sign up for shifts and duties at church. This can be a great way to meet other members of the congregation. It feels good to help out. The Bible teaches us that there is joy in the work. “In the same way let your light before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). These are all lessons that I have learned since I moved back to Longview with Emily. There were many good reminders to be a brother’s keeper. 

New couples have moved to Longview in past months. Often I think of our experience and am reminded to invite them over. I try to make it a point to go visit with them to help them feel welcome.  

Discussion Questions 

1. What are some simple ways we can notice and welcome someone new in our congregation?  

2. Why is it sometimes difficult for people to ask for help, and how can we gently encourage openness?  

3. How can trials – such as medical struggles, grief, or financial difficulties – become opportunities for strengthening faith?  

4. What role does humility play in both giving and receiving help?  

5. How can prayer serve as a gift of help, even when we feel we have little else to offer?  

6. Reflect on a time when someone’s support made a lasting difference in your life. What can we learn from those experiences for how we support others?

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