There’s an old book on my shelf titled Where There is No Doctor. Like many books, I inherited this one from my predecessors, and while they depended on the information found in its yellowed pages, I’m grateful that I’ve never needed to handle any of the medical situations mentioned in the book without the help of a doctor! 

The book that I wish someone had written and left behind for me is Where There is No Community, because this has been a bigger hurdle in my two decades of global service than living in a place with less-than-adequate medical care. As global workers, we believe in the importance of community; we quote all the Scripture references supporting this theme. Yet we often find ourselves lacking this very thing that we preach. 

Maybe we’ve just arrived overseas, can’t speak the language and are confused by the culture. Perhaps we’re the new members in a well-established group and haven’t yet found our niche. Sometimes we return to our own countries on home assignment only to find out that it doesn’t really feel like home anymore.  

Whatever the reason, we all go through seasons when it feels like there’s no community to encourage and support us, to hold up our arms when we get tired. 

When I find myself in a season of solitude and struggling with the loneliness that it brings, I look at Hebrews 11 and make a mental list of how many people in this “Hall of Faith” also experienced lonely times. 

Noah and his family, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, and Moses, to name a few. I take consolation from the fact that “these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised…” (Heb. 11:39) I love it that the author of Hebrews tells us to be encouraged by this great cloud of witnesses, and to throw off the things that are hindering our race! 

There’s no doubt that lack of community can be a hindrance, but it usually only lasts for a season. As Solomon tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a time and season for everything, and in God’s perfect timing, this season will gracefully give way to the next one.