Trading Speed for Fellowship

What a privilege it is to share something with someone. A book, a meal, maybe even a TV show. To have someone to experience and talk with. Sometimes, though, it can be a burden. When you decide to share an activity with someone, it inevitably slows you down. Now you can't watch your TV show whenever you want because you can't watch an episode without your buddy, even if the last episode was a crazy cliffhanger. Or maybe living in a busy city, the inconvenience of your daily commute to work being 30 minutes longer because someone else decided to make a scene on the subway. The inconvenience of waiting in long lines because everyone else in town decided to go grocery shopping at the exact same time you did. Sometimes, we designate the things we're really interested in as solo missions so that we don't have to coordinate with anyone else's schedule or opinion. Sometimes we isolate ourselves completely—it's just so much easier.

---

However, when we take a page out of God's book to see His thoughts on the matter, we see a different perspective. He created all that there has been, all that there is, and all that there will be in just 6 days (He rested on the 7th), and when we were created, we became tools for His Divine Plan. He didn't make us to just be puppets controlled by His Hand to do His Biddings - He gave us free will. In that decision, God shows us that He was willing to "slow down" the unfolding of His Plans just to include us in the process. We sometimes second-guess sharing things with others out of fear of misaligned thinking and needing to compromise on certain choices, but God has given us the freedom to completely reject His Plans, to reject our purpose of carrying out His Will, and instead decide to carry out our own. The author of all reality has decided to involve us, His little creations, in His big plan and has even declared it as a "good thing" (genisis 1:31) - all while knowing He'd have to give the ultimate sacrifice because of our free will. How much more willing should we be to share something as pleasant as the trail in a public park, or as necessary as a meal with another one of God's Beloved, no matter how much it sets us back.