"Share Your Energy, People!"

"How you all doing??!!! Let me hear how much you love this!!!!"

A few grunts, a weak, "woo-hoo", mostly silence.

"C-mon! You can do better than that! Let me hear you!!!"

A few more grunts, three or four faint ''woo-hoos." Silence. . .

I was about thirty minutes into an hour long spin class, pedaling my brains out on a stationary bike along with thirty or so others who'd signed up for the same torture session.

At this point in the workout, my legs were hurting, my lungs were burning and frankly this overenthusiastic instructor was getting on my nerves. Why couldn't he just leave us to suffer alone in silence? Is yelling and screaming really necessary? After all, I'm here working my tail off aren't I? Isn't that enough confirmation that I'm committed?

So, I decided to ignore him. I thought, "maybe if I don't respond he'll eventually grow tired of trying and just shut up." That sentiment seemed to be the consensus among most of my fellow sufferers in the room.

But then he said something so profound that I almost fell off my bike.

"You guys are all way too into yourselves!! Look up!! Look around!! You're not in this alone, you know!! You've got to share your energy, people!!!"

Share your energy? Wow...I'd never thought of it in quite that way before. Maybe all of that yelling and hype served a worthwhile purpose after all.

Sure I was hurting. Sure I wanted to quit. But I wasn't alone. There were others around me who knew how I was feeling because, at various times throughout this hour long ordeal, they were hurting just as much as I. No doubt all of us could ride harder and longer with the power of our combined energy and encouragement than we could just by relying on our own.

It's a powerful principle. Not only for surviving the occasional grueling workout, but for surviving our spiritual battles as well.

Galatians 6:2 tells us to "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

God put us in this thing called Church, His body, so that we'd have a means of drawing energy from, and sharing energy with, others.  He gave us one another so we wouldn't have to struggle against sin, trials, hardships, the ups and downs of this Christian walk, alone.

But sadly, so many of us don't use our relationship with others in the Body for the purpose God intended. Instead church becomes, as the lyrics to one contemporary Christian song goes, a place filled with "happy plastic people...with walls around our weakness, with smiles to hide our pain." In such an environment, the opportunities God provides His people to tap into a tremendous source of power and energy for personal change and growth are too often squandered.

In Malachi 3:16 we read "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,...

Hmm....what do you suppose it is they spoke to one another about? The standing of their favorite sports teams? The politics of the day? The weather?

Let's read on.

...And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him. For those who fear the LORD. And who meditate on His name. 'They shall be Mine,' says the LORD of hosts,..."

Isn't that amazing? Have you ever thought of God listening in on your conversations with your brothers and sisters in Christ?

And what did He hear? He heard them speak of their love for Him, their fear and respect for His ways. These Christians were sharing their burdens, encouraging and building each other up in the fear of the Lord.

Satan wants you and I to be spiritually isolated. He knows that when we are weak and isolated we are most vulnerable to attack. God placed us in a body of believers as a buttress against the enemy, especially during times of weakness. It's during those times that our God knew we would most need the encouragement of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

That encouragement is only possible in an environment where people feel safe, supported and cared for enough to share their brokenness. God has put us together.  He has seen to it that none of us need struggle against sin, trials or weakness, alone. He created the forum, His Church. It's up to us to create the environment.  

And we can do it if we just get out of ourselves, look up, look around and "share your energy people!!!"