Find My Friends
Husband and I have a phone app called “Find My Friends” that
allows us to check on each other and estimate when we might both
be back home. However, on days when I need a girlfriend, it is
useless. This weekend I went to Whidbey Island to visit mine.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 is often read at weddings. I believe the
author intended a much wider application:
“Two
people are better off than one, for they can help each other
succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.
But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two
people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how
can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be
attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and
conquer.”
The very best investments we can ever make in life are not
financial, they are relational-- first, with God and second with
other people. Here’s what I think good friends are meant to
be...
First is someone who provides emotional warmth in a cold world.
True friendship is the deliberate knitting together of souls. We
all need to be loved without condition as we navigate life.
These are the people I can talk with, laugh with, sing with,
pray with and even cry with.
When I am with my true friends I breathe more freely. My soul
can be naked. I am able to admit my vanities, weaknesses,
struggles, and faults, knowing that each will be dissolved in
the deep ocean of my friends’ loyalty. They choose to love me
for who I am today… and also for what I can become tomorrow
under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit.
I love them that same way.
Also, a real friend will fight to protect
your reputation. Not only do they not stab you in the back, true
friends guard you; they protect you from life’s injustices.
Jackie Robinson was the first Black American
to play baseball in the major leagues. Breaking baseball’s color
barrier, he faced hostile crowds in every stadium. While playing
one day in Brooklyn, he committed an error. The fans began to
jeer. He stood there humiliated while the crowd booed. Then,
without saying a word, shortstop Pee Wee Reese went over and
stood next to Jackie. He put his arm around his friend and faced
the crowd. Suddenly the fans were quiet.
Robinson later said that that arm around his
shoulder saved his career.
Pee Wee Reese did that for Jackie Robinson.
Jesus did it for us.
Next, true
friends help each other become better people. Proverbs 27:17
says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a
friend sharpens a friend.”
There are many people who don’t want anyone
to remind them of their faults; they want to be unconditionally
adored. I don’t. My true friends aren’t afraid to motivate me to
be all that God intends. It hurts sometimes, but I appreciate
that they tell me the truth in gentleness and love. No single
quality blesses me more.
And finally, my true friends help me when I’m
down. Do you know how to tell the difference between
acquaintances and a friend? When you are traveling through
adversity the people standing beside you are your real friends.
Everyone needs at least one person who believes in them when
they’ve stopped believing in themselves.
My phone
app is useless when it comes to finding a lasting friendship,
however there’s a foolproof formula:
I went out to find a friend,
And could not find one there.
I went out to be a friend,
And friends were everywhere!