There’s an old adage that between you and anyone else in the world there are only six degrees of separation.  In the Keirn household, when we strike up a conversation with a stranger we tend to have a rather uncanny two degrees of separation.  Now for the average non-believer this is coincidence, luck, or some other ethereal bit of chance.  For the Christian, we know that our God works all things together for the good of them that love God – Romans 8:28.

There are no coincidences in this world, which is under the loving and guiding hand of the creator of all things, the God of the Bible who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  Don’t get me wrong, though; while I truly believe this, I am still amazed at how the Lord works and the connections he makes in my life.  This week I went to a birthday party down the road from where I’m staying in Chad, Africa.  There at the party I was surprised to meet Gabriel, who is married to the sister of my friend’s mother.  Turns out Gabriel is also friend of one of the families from the school where I am working over here.  That’s a pretty far reach though.  Counting the man who invited me to the birthday party to meet Gabriel, there are four degrees of separation to Reuben’s mother, whom I also count as a friend.

Today it got a little closer.  I met Prosper, the father of one of the girls from the school where I’m working.  He is the cousin of Reuben’s father, who I also count as a friend.  Now we’re talking Keirn style community.  I know Prosper, and Reuben’s father is a brother in Christ…we’re family.  I met a cousin in Christ today!  Our Lord makes great connections in our lives.  Sometimes God makes us work at it, like with Prosper who only speaks a little English and I only speak a little French.  But if we accept the challenge and we are willing to step out and make conversation, God may be faithful to build community around us.

All of this got me thinking about people who are lacking good, solid relationships.  Go to blueletterbible.com and look up the word faithful in the Bible.  Most of the time it is about how faithful the Lord is, and when it’s about people it is a less than glowing report.  The church is a place full of sinful people just like the rest of the world.  But I remembered an Our Daily Bread devotional from earlier this summer that said “Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives, says Henri Nouwen. Often we surround ourselves with the people we most want to live with, which forms a club or a clique, not a community. Anyone can form a club; it takes grace, shared vision, and hard work to form a community.”

If you’re feeling alone in the world, build a relationship with Jesus Christ through a local Bible believing church…then take a few chances; strike up a few conversations.  And see how the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28) will build a community around you; and maybe even give you a few cousins in Christ.