It’s no secret I’ve been embittered by the loss of what I
thought was going to be life-sustaining friendships.
Maybe that’s what I’m realizing God saw I saw. Life-sustaining. Dependent.
Impenetrable.
Sitting down with friends, old and new, over the last few
weeks has done wonders on my heart. I
look at all the wonderful people that I’ve met, the memories that were made,
the laughs that were had—moments that were shared that would’ve otherwise never
existed—and I think, man, God knew what He was doing.
If He hadn’t pulled us apart I wouldn’t have felt a need
to pursue other friendships. And now
here I am growing and learning about other people and myself in the process.
When friendships end I always think the age-old “reason, season, lifetime” bit. All things come
to an end in due time. But the neat
thing I’m learning from God is that sometimes He brings seasons back. Maybe not to stay, but to remind and
encourage.
With time apart, talking with friends I made a year ago,
two years ago, three years, and even months
ago, I can see how much they’ve grown and changed and they can reflect and
tell me how much I’ve grown and changed.
And we can celebrate. We live in
the new moment, remembering the old, and praising the Lord Who brought us from
that point in our lives.
And suddenly the dull days in which I so sullenly thought I was
stuck aren’t so dull. I’m encouraged by
new relationships, new faces, new people, new hearts, new personalities, just as I am with the old. And so it is said:
For as in one body we have many
members, and the members do not all have the same function (Romans 12:4).
And I’m enjoying appreciating all that each person offers my life as a brother or sister in Christ.
I understand that not every relationship can be a deep
one, but there are some new friendships I hope do deepen. I pray their hearts are really open to
me. I pray for reconciliation with the
few friendships that have fallen away and that those bonds may deepen as well. I pray for the friendships that already contain
depth and consistency to continue to do so, but for my hands to be loose so
that if and when the time comes, I can let go.
I just pray over all my friendships right now, God, that they be of healthy
boundaries, loving in spirit, open with honesty, and ready for laughter. There’s a whole lot of life to live, and I
can’t and won’t do it with a frown anymore.
