The Gift of Friendship

Today’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 4- 6; Acts 9:23-43

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV)

In high school I had a lot of acquaintances, but few close friends. There were a couple of people I enjoyed chatting with, and once in awhile even got together with outside of school, but I never had what you would call a “best friend.” It was only in college that I experienced such a friend for the first time. It was then that I discovered the true value of a friend. Before then I had always held my friends at a distance. I didn’t often let them see the true me deep inside. Perhaps I was afraid that they wouldn’t like what they saw. Perhaps I was afraid that they would no longer be my friend when they discovered who I was really was.

All I know is that, when I opened my heart to friendship, my whole life began to change. I was happier, more content, and drawing closer to God. I began to see the value in having someone I could share my hurts and fears with. I began to see how nice it was to have someone to help me up when I fell. God gave me a great gift when He gave me my college friends, not one I’ll soon forget.

Yet times change. Friends move on. Although I hold those dear friends in my heart, we’re now married, starting our own families, and spread out throughout world. Although we try to stay in touch, things are different then they used to me. I love these dear friends, but I also recognize the need to have friends close at hand whom I can confide in and share my daily life with.

And so the challenge to make friends begins once again. Once again I have to ask God for help as I push down the walls of insecurities that surround me. Once again I have to open up and reveal the true me, even if I get hurt once again. And once again, I stand amazed at how God has already placed new friends in my life for this time and place.

When I read words like those in the verses above, I’m reminded how wonderful friends truly are. They stand beside you through good times and bad. They pray for you, encourage you, and pick you up when you fall. Yes, it’s tough when you open yourself up to someone. And sometimes, you do get hurt. I, too, have lost some friendships along the way. Just the same, I’m so thankful for the friends God gives me for each season of my life. He seems to always know, better than me, what I need and from whom. What a wonderful gift friendship is!

What friends has God blessed you with? What is your favorite thing about those friendships? What has God taught you through these friendships?

A Time for Everything

Today’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 1-3; Acts 9:1-22

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV).

I love Ecclesiastes 3. It’s such a great reminder of the orderliness of life, and how God is ultimately in charge of everything. As verse one says, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Sometimes it’s so easy to rush ahead. Sometimes I want things to happen immediately in my own timing, instead of waiting on God’s. Other times I want the earth to stand still. I don’t want to face reality as it stares in me in the face.
Just the same, God is holy and just. He doesn’t abandon me, even during the hardest of times. He’s there when I cry, when I watch those I love leave the earth, and he’s there when I laugh as I experience something new and wonderful for the first time. He’s there when I uproot and leave the past and it’s memories behind, and he’s there as I create new friendships and new memories along life’s road.
It’s so comforting to know that God is there every step of the way. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (NIV).

What part of Ecclesiastes 3 are you experiencing today? How is God showing Himself to you through this process?

Leviticus 25; Mark 11:1-18

Can you imagine what it would have been like on that day, to stand there in Jerusalem, waving a palm branch as the King of Kings rode through the city on a donkey? What a thrill it would have been to shout out praises and worship him. And how sad that the same people who worshiped him so whole-heatedly would soon turn their back on him. I’d liked to say that it would be different for me. That I still would have followed Jesus, instead of turning on him and having him crucified. But, I can’t condemn those people back in Jerusalem, because I, too, have doubted him from time to time. When times are happy I jump around, full of praises for my savior. When things don’t go as planned, I start to doubt his sovereignty. I start to take matters into my own hands, instead of worshiping him in the good times and in the bad.
Oh how I want to worship him in any and every situation. This is my prayer today, that when the next hardship comes my way, I will be able to depend on the Lord like never before.
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other” (Ecclesiastes 7:14a).

Leviticus 8-10; Mark 6:30-56

We serve a God of the impossible. He raises people from the dead, heals them from sickness, feeds thousands of people, and walks upon the water. He does the impossible, so why is it so hard to believe?
For me, at least, it’s hard for me to believe in the impossible at times because I’m stuck in this world where everything is measured and figured and explained away. It’s hard for me to comprehend things that are past my brains capabilities. It’s hard for me to understand that God has always existed and always will, because I live in a world where each of our days is numbered. It’s hard for me to understand. I could go crazy trying to figure everything out. And so I don’t. I live by faith, not by sight (1 Corinthians 5:7).
To close my thoughts for today, here’s a few verses to consider:
• “How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out” (Job 36:26).
• “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things” (Ecclesiastes 11:5).
• Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
• “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).