On Being a Friend

Sometimes I just want to slap people.

Other times, I just want to wrap my arms around them and tell them that everything will be okay.

When my friends hurt, I hurt. It kills me to see them in pain. I just want to fix it. What hurts me even more is to see them inflict pain on themselves. Because then their worst enemy is themself. And I can't help someone who doesn't want help.

Then I got to thinking. And it truly was a Jesus moment. If my heart bleeds for a hurting, broken friend, how much more does God's heart hurt? How much more does God's heart break?

Sometimes I just want my friends to see my love. I just want them to realize that someone really does care.

I want my friends to recognize the light at the end of the tunnel.

Healing is possible.

Restoration and freedom is real.

Hope is not futile.

Love conquers even the deepest pain.

And as I was thinking about all I wished I could do, all I wished they could see, Jesus reminded me of His love. That any love I have to give is minute compared to His. I would die for my loved ones. He did die for His loved ones, and even the ones who don't love Him.

He desires to wrap His children in His arms and whisper His love to them. He wants us to see His great and infinite love and tender care.

He wants us to see the light that is coming for those who trust in Him.

He wants His people to find deep healing and wholeness, but that only comes from one Person.

He longs for us to see Him as our Savior, our Rescue. He can restore even the most broken of spirits, rescue the bound and beaten prisoner.

He wants us to hope in Him, for us to find all of our longings fulfilled in His deep heart.

He has won the victory. He desires us to live as conquerors in His love.

I can't save my friends. I can't force people to see truth, to see God's love and grace, to see His call on their lives. But I can allow Him to work in my own. I can allow Him to break down my walls, open my heart, and I can live. I can find healing and wholeness in Him, choose to see the light that is near, choose to let Him break my chains, choose to hope in Him when satan whispers to give up. I can claim the victory that I fight so hard for but that has already been won. I can rest in my Savior, the Bearer of all peace and the Giver of life and the Healer of broken hearts.

I can show my friends that Jesus is in the business of restoring lives. That is my call. God is quite capable of all the rest and will use me however He sees is best.

Beloved, I know that the love I have for my friends is nothing compared to Yours. Forgive me for trying to carry their burdens on my own. You alone can handle that. And while I am called to walk through life with them, I cannot play god and fool myself into thinking that I can do things that only You can do. Forgive me for not surrendering them to You, for hating myself when I fall short, for getting frustrated with them when my efforts go ignored. Only You can melt hearts, only You can bring restoration and healing. So I surrender them to You, knowing full well that You can take much better care of them than I ever could. Show me how to be a friend who points others to You.