Live Free with Josh Howerton - Isolation Isn’t God’s Plan | Ep. 11 | Monday February 20, 2023

Episode Date: February 20, 2023

God made us to do this life together. This episode touches on the value of connection and the destructiveness of isolation. Do you want to walk in a new, Christ-like way? Find a partner to do it with you! For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up everybody? Hope you're having a great day. My name is Mike Bro, and so honored you to tune in today.

It's fun for me to spend a few minutes with you every day. Just kind of thinking through how God's talking to me and how God's directed my life and just really grateful that you're even interested in stuff like this. We've been kicking off this new year. Just listen to God say, come on, walk this way. We heard God say, stop at the crossroads, look around, ask for the old godly way and start walking in it.

You do it. You'll find rest for your soul. We spent the entire, I think the last four or five days just talking about the playlist in our head and how we cooperate with God in the transformation process by changing the way we think. And we threw out a couple of words to keep us on track, feed and focus, feed and focus. If we just feed our minds the right stuff, focus on the right thing, it'll help us keep on track. Because what we feed our minds and what we focus on, it's the ballgame. It just is.

We've been saying it this way, your direction determines your destination. And your decisions determine your direction. What you download determines your decisions. And now, who you walk with makes all the difference. This week, we're just going to focus a while on the importance of finding a partner this year to walk with. Now, you know, as I do, it's so much easier to reach, like, fitness goals. If you have somebody to work out with, somebody that's spotting you, somebody that's pushing you, encouraging you. Or if you run with a group or you join an exercise class, I mean, you're just doing it with some other people.

And if you want to continue down the new road that you've decided to travel this year, you can't just walk alone. I mean, there are just some things that were not meant for one person to do all by themselves. Things like life. God made us to do this life together. And as you probably already know, the value of human connectedness is one of the most proven by research. I mean, we know more about the value of connection and the value. the destructiveness of isolation than just about anything else.

I made tons of research show that when people have strong support systems where they're like processing their knees, their feelings, their fears, their problems, places they can take their joys. They are physically healthier. They've got stronger immune systems. And when they do need medical attention, they usually respond to treatment much better. They're emotionally healthier, got less stress, less depression, less anxiety, most likely to reach their attempts to change their life,

more able to reach their goals, and on and on and on. The research reveals everything we do is affected by the quality, the amount, and the level of connection with other people that we have in our lives. Robert Putnam was part of Harvard's famous, exhaustive, connected in his research,

writes in his book called Bowling Alone, The Single Most Common Finding from a half-century's research on life, satisfaction, not only from the U.S., but around the world, is that happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one's social connections. Emotionally isolated people are more prone to depression, low self-esteem, substance abuse, sexual addiction, eating and sleep disorders, people who are socially disconnected are between two and five times more likely to die from any cause than those who have close ties to family,

and other relationships. In fact, studies show that people who have bad health habits, like smoking, elevated blood pressure, physical inactivity, but they have strong connectedness, actually live longer than people who have great health habits but are disconnected, which leads this researcher to conclude, better a crispy cream with friends than a salad alone. Can I get an amen? There's just power and connection. When we live in isolation, we're much more likely to give in a temptation or discouragement.

Haven't you found it to be true? When we live disconnected, we're much more likely to become self-absorbed. We're more likely to spend our money in selfish ways. We're more likely to relapse back into old destructive patterns. Plus, not only do we suffer when we live in isolation, but other people get cheated out of the love that God intended to give them through you and me. So let me give you a walk this way verse. Proverbs 13, 20, whoever walks with the wise will become wise.

Whoever walks with fools will suffer harm. So let me ask you, who are you walking with? When something goes wrong, do you have at least one friend that you can easily talk to about it? I mean, who would you call it 3 o'clock in the morning when your world's falling apart? You got a friend like that? Are you a friend like that to somebody else? You got a friend that you can text immediately to let them know some good news. You have a friend that you can drop in on any time without calling ahead.

I mean, who in your life has fridge rights? They can just bounce right in and open up your fridge. Is there somebody who knows your greatest fears? Is there someone who knows your greatest temptations? Do you have a friend that you know well enough? You can just trust their confidentiality, absolutely. Who rubs off on you? Do you know Jesus as an intimate friend?

that's just something to think about today, something to pray about the day, because who you walk with is a big deal. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. We're going to talk more about this tomorrow. Hope you have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit lakepoint.church slash daily drive.