Friday, April 24, 2009

Friendships

The other day, I had a delightful, relaxing, fun day for me. My husband, M, took the boys to the Supertrain show with his dad and I chose to stay home. I relaxed, read a book, talked to a friend, journalled, prayed, cleaned and cooked. Yet at the end of my afternoon I was anxious for company. Being lonely is something each of us faces and no matter how we can try to fill the void, when you need a friend nothing else will do.

Friendship is an interesting force. God created us to be together. Genesis 2:7-23 tells the story of how God created mankind and He says that was not good that man was alone. Wow. Man was never created to be alone, to travel alone. We were created to share this existence, to carry each others burdens, to be a part of each others lives. So many times we allow the happenings in our lives to isolate us, to keep us from others. The truth is that is not God's plan for us. His plan includes deep, intimate relationships. When He was on earth, Jesus never went without friends. He surrounded Himself with friends, 9 good friends and 3 close friends. He knows our need to be social and have friends.

I remember a day, shortly after we had married and moved to a new city, when I came home from work at a new job I hated, in a new city where we were close to no one and crawled into bed crying because I was just so lonely. I remember pouring my heart out to God, desperate for His help, asking for a friend - even just one. Shortly after that, the next day I believe, I came home from work to find my cat lying motionless and sick on the living room floor. I loved my cat, I had moved her halfway across the country, she was my friend, my confidante and I was terrified. I went through the people we had met at church wondering who I could call for a ride to the vet and, even though I didn't know them well, I called a couple who lived close to us. They were gracious enough to come immediately, drive us to the vet and wait for us to be done to bring us home. It was the start of a beautiful friendship that continues to this day. An answer to prayer. I have forever felt blessed by God to have given me such an immediate and obvious answer to prayer. I know, without a doubt, that God cares deeply about our friendships. When we call to Him, He will provide.

Are you lonely? Take it to God. Trust Him to provide a friend for you, to bring into your life someone you need and someone who needs you. He will not fail you.

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