When Friends Forsake

It is amazing to me how I can have such peace and joy during the day and yet still wet my pillow with tears at night. Last night, as I laid in bed, my mind raced back and forth thinking about different friends I have had in my life. So many of them simply came and went. I used to try so desperately to hang onto friends. I wanted to be the kind of person they would love hanging out with, go to movies with, go out and do fun things with and share their hearts with. There would be times when I would act...well....a wee bit fake in order to be someone they would like. 

Now, as I seek to serve the Lord and love Him first and foremost in my life, I realize that sometimes that means not being the fake person I tried to be to get my friends to like me. Sometimes, pleasing the Lord is not very pleasing to man. And sometimes, it hurts really bad. My heart was aching as I thought of how different my life would be if I were more like some of these friends. I thought of how frustrating it was to try being there when others are hurting and have no friends there when you are. Suddenly the peace of God just surrounded me and that whisper like voice spoke to my heart saying, "But, I'm here. I was always here. When no one else could feel your pain I always could. My child, am I enough to satisfy your heart?"

I spoke to Him, out loud, just like I would if He were sitting on the bed with me. I cried as if I were crying on His shoulder. Of course He is enough. Though the world may reject and abandon, though they put stick labels on us and turn away, He is ALWAYS there and He has ALWAYS loved me.

I prayed for my friends last night, starting with those that had hurt me most, but it was not a prayer of anger and bitterness. It was a prayer of love and thankfulness, not because I'm such a great friend, but because Jesus is and He placed every word into my mouth.

I fell asleep quietly singing, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," and I slept ever so peacefully.

"Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He'll take and shield thee;

Thou wilt find a solace there."

We Could Do So Much More

We have just spent this last weekend at the 2012 Family Economics Conference. It was truly a wonderful time and experience. I have so much that I could write about the actual conference, but all of that will have to wait because I have something else besides family economics weighing heavily on my mind.

I'm going to talk about boy/girl relationships....actually, I'm going to talk about brother/sister relationships. :-) They're tricky, they're sticky, and some of us truly act like we think they're icky. But they are NOT. At least, they don't have to be.

At the conference, I was amazed at the genuine kindness, politeness and friendliness displayed by the young men and women helping put on the conference. The young men would say, "Hello" and smile, just like the young ladies. They didn't walk past and ignore me like I was a picture on the wall. I was able to have good edifying conversations with some of them - and with some young ladies too. It was wonderful. Seeing them work together for the glory of God really inspired me. They worked TOGETHER. The girls didn't work on one half of the room while the guys worked on the other. No, no, no, they worked side by side.

Now, I'm not trying to imply that guys and girls should be standing in groups, frivolously bantering and acting immaturely. That's what we need to stay away from, but that doesn't mean we avoid each other like the plague!

The group of young people that helped put on the conference knew the beauty of brother and sister relationships. God didn't intend for men and women to be segregated, separate species. We were created to work together, to help one another.

As young people we have two great assets, youth and singleness. When we use these to the glory of God we can accomplish great things for His kingdom. The young people I saw, put on a conference for thousands of people. They were such a blessing to me and I know they were a blessing to others as well. That's how all of us should be acting.

We need to quit acting like cooties are for real and start working together! When a guy walks in the room we girls don't need to go hide and pretend we didn't see them, and vice versa.

Yes, girls and guys can get too friendly, in fact you will probably run into situations where people get wrong impressions, but that just means we need to work things out. We need to repent and move on, not cower in a corner feeling like a wounded puppy.

I won't lie; I'm talking to myself here. I just thought that I would share my thoughts. Something to think about. We've got to start working together for the glory of Christ and for the furtherance of His kingdom.

Silver, Gold and Rust

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold.

-Just beware of the rust.....

Friends are wonderful gifts from God. They help us to form strongly knit units and communities. They help encourage us and keep us accountable. But, there are some people who would try to make us believe that we are their friends simply for their own gain. These are the kind of friends that I refer to as rust. They take, take, take. They are only in it for themselves. They eat away bits of you until they are satisfied or until you stop them. Then they are gone and you see their friendship for what it truly was.

Making new friends is important. You never know who you might befriend. As Christians, it is important that we are friendly people. Even non-Christians can have a role in our lives as ministry friends. One of the best ways to fulfill the Great Comission is to be friendly and reach out to our lost world. This does not mean that we shouldn't address sin, but we should do so in love, as someone who genuinely cares for their soul. 

God places different friends in our lives at different times and for different reasons. Some will come and go, but there will always be the couple of true golden friends that stick with you through thick and thin. You can share your pain, your joy, your problems, your triumphs, and so much more because you know that they will help strengthen you in the Lord. And the best kind of friendship is where this works vice versa. In the same way that you rely on them, they rely on you. You can lay hands on one another and pray, outloud and unashamed for each other. These are the best kind of friends.

But let us not forget rust...

More importantly, let us not forget the rust in our own lives.

When someone that I considered to be a friend suddenly turns on me, or starts giving me a cold shoulder, it hurts. Even though it is uncomfortable, it gives us a good oppertunity to evaluate our own lives and see if we also are being selfish in our friendships.

Ask yourself, "Am I in this just for me?"

"Am I encouraging this friend in the Lord?"

"Am I being a giver or a taker?"

Friendship is a wonderful thing. Don't abuse it.