Everyone gets a turn at crisis. And more than once. The real question is only this: Who in your life is both capable of and willing to walk through your crisis with you? In many ways, your life will be defined by the quality of people who journey alongside you ("The New Rebellion Handbook," p. 236).

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief,
my soul and my body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And my body has wasted away (Psalm 31:9-10, NASB).

"Your life will be defined by the quality of people who journey alongside you." I'm quite sure that isn't totally true, but it's true enough for us to pay close attention. More than one person has told me, "I don't know how I would have made it through what happened to me without the people who love me and care about me." Anybody who has experienced hard times knows the truth of that statement.

The sad thing is that in our modern times, we've either forgotten or neglected the importance of our "people connections." I once conducted the funeral for a man I had never met. He had lived across the street from one of our church families. At the funeral the only people who attended were his wife and two grown daughters. This family had lived in that town for about fifteen years. They attended no church, belonged to no club, had no friends, and barely knew any of their neighbors. I don't know why. What I know is that they lived a lonely life, and when the husband died, if it had not been for the family across the street that attended our church, there would have been nobody to help the wife through the ordeal of her husband's death.

Tough times demand lots of people.
Who would help you through a crisis? If you can't put a name to that question, you're in trouble and may not even know it. But there is a companion question implied in the broader scope of this discussion. Who would you help through a crisis? You see, unless we all are willing to be the one who helps, when it comes our turn to be helped then chances are there won't be anyone.

Some people have large, close families, but I've noticed that even when that's the case, in a crisis people yearn for people outside the family to stand by them. Some people have close friends, a loving church, good neighbors. Those are all wonderful resources. But the best resources you'll ever have are those people you stood by during their time of crisis.

One of the great things about being a Christian and part of a great church is the call for all of us to be servants. You can't put that responsibility onto a few people, or even the church staff. It's too big, too broad, too demanding for a handful of people to deal with. Tough times demand lots of people, ready to respond, able to help. But we really need to know that when it comes our turn to deal with a crisis, it's likely those we've already helped through their own crisis who will be the first to help us. Are you among the "quality people" that others need?