Our Father in heaven knows what we need. And there are times, when God knows that what we need is… a friend.
Some of my ‘friends’ I have never met, but they encourage me every day. One of them is Oswald Chambers. He wrote the infamous book entitled, “My Utmost for His Highest.”
Many times the words that God prompted him to write, were like the words of a best friend to help keep me on track. For instance, August 11, he writes,
“When you come to your wits’ end and feel inclined to panic – don’t!”
What great words from a friend!
But this wisdom came a little late. I have a friend or two that have seen me do just that – panic!
How beautiful of my Father in heaven to give me friends who will love me still, even after moments of panic. Moments when I forget that God was on the throne and Sovereign over all. When I forget that He cares for me in an intimate way and is looking out for me. Moments when I forget that He has a plan, and a ‘plan for good and not evil’ (Jer. 29:11) for me.
The shadows of fear are always right there hiding in those closets in our minds!There is temptation to ‘panic’. We then miss our step and fall into in a pit of despair, carrying about great heaviness…like Romans 6:7:24,
“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
But my friend, (Oswald Chambers!) whom I have never met, encourages:
“Stand true to God and He will bring out His truth in a way that will make your life an expression of worship.” (August 11, My Utmost for His Highest.)
Our Father in heaven knows what His children need. He does care and He is there, and He gives us brothers and sisters ‘in Him’. He knows that we need a friend to help ‘sharpen our iron’ when it gets dull. He knows we need a friend to help guide our feet back to ‘paths of righteousness’.
He knows that we need a friend sometimes, that we simply bow our heads with and seek Him, and Him only, because He is the only One who can be our help in our seemingly impossible situations.
That is why we can give thanks to God, no matter what is going on – because He gives us friends to help and pray and walk this journey with – and sometimes at great distances away -but God simply knits hearts together.
Maybe God gave us these special bonds of friendship to help us ‘see’ how close our Immanuel really is to us. He is our Immanuel. He is our ‘God with us’, always.
I had a friend remind me, “He loves you, me, everyone. He answers prayer – yesterday, everyday. We just need to call out to HIM and He will always be there, always!” Now that is a good friend. One that always points to God, no matter what happens. You see, this particular friend, he needed healing. Cancer had invaded his body. But his response about healing? “I’m healed already!” He called out to God,continually, and trusted God even in the cold darkness of sickness. Even when he could hold on no longer, God had a hold on him, “I am with you always.”
God’s word tells us,(Proverbs 18:24), “But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
We have a Friend, Jesus, who hears us when we call. He answers with strength an courage:
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?…It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ” Romans 8:31,34.
That is why my friend could answer with strength and courage.
Jesus, our Friend that sticks even closer than a brother, He is sitting at the right hand of God and He is praying for us, even now! “We just need to call out to HIM and He will always be there, always.”
Can anything separate us from the love of God? Nothing, not even death. Nothing in life, no angels nor principalities, no powers can even separate us from the love of God. Nothing is ‘able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:39).
Thanking God today for ‘friends. Friends that we don’t know,but speak truth. Thanking God for friends that are always pointing to Jesus: “He loves you, me, everyone.” And perhaps some of these most special friends went on to be with the Lord, but I believe they are praying for us…
that our lives might be an expression of worship, and in turn, we might be a friend…
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