Tuesday, April 28, 2009

My Best Friend....

What is a friend? Is a friend one who can always be there, through trials and joys? And yet, who can have a friend like this? Is it possible to have a 'best friend' in this world? We may all say, "I have a best friend....and yet...." What is the yet....? I have had many best friends in the past, and were they were all friends? Yes, there are many great friends, and we come across many people who are very special to us. They bring a great part of life with them and are brought by the Lord for a special reason and need. A friend is one who sharpens the other. "Our friendship is like a china glass. Once broken, it becomes even stronger and unbreakable the next time 'round." A beautiful and very true quote. Something all of us need to hear. I want that quote to be true, but is it? At times we may hang on to a friend a bit too much, clinging to this person because, perhaps they have something which we don't have, and we want it to. I can recall a time when I did this myself. I had just moved from TX to IL and I had to leave my best friend. I was saddened and did not want to go through the pain and knowing that I could no longer see her again. For about 2 full years, I was on strong contact with my friend, talking, emailing and sending letters ALL the time. It wasn't until I noticed that the Lord struck my head with a lightening bolt (as to say) and said, "Vanessa, the friendship you are holding at the moment is not quite right. You're life has been centered around this girl a bit too much." I did not want to believe it, I did not want to hear it. I wanted to ignore those words all because I knew that it was a friend I never ever had. I wanted to just walk away and continue the so called "cool" friendship I thought I was having.

Soon enough, as we all know, if the Lord does not get through us through His words, then He'll bring a situation around where we WILL get it! Nonetheless, I was confronted with a moment where I noticed, "Ok God, you're so true and right!" The friendship which my friend gave me was great, I needed it at the moment. God placed this young lady in my life for a great reason and I'm ever so thankful for it. It was a blessing because I was often down through the two years of my first years in a new state. She was strong enough and held me up. However, the Lord opened my eyes and ears recently to know that the times over here are getting better and I am not leaning upon this friend anymore because it is over. God brought yet another time when my friend was not here and I had no other choice, and I immediately turned my heart to God, and since then I have experienced the moment of making GOD my best friend. I have always heard this and nonetheless, never understood how this could be. How could God be my 'best friend'? He's great, but can that really be? Oh sure enough, it is so very true! I have never had a friend so great as He. He restores my soul, he encourages me when I'm down, and raises me up.

It is God, He is my friend, my all time friend, now and forever! It's an indescribable friendship, a friendship which no man or woman can ever fulfil. My definition of a best friend is thus, "GOD!" One who is there at ALL times, and one who will NEVER leave me alone. He's my comforter and my strength. Yes, God does give us earthly friends, but that friend can never fill that empty space within us. Times change, and we all change. I have noticed many, many changes throughout the past two years in myself and my friend, especially. Although, God is a God who never changes, he was the same yesterday, the same today, and will be the same tomorrow! Even arguments often can arise, and the friends may be angry at each other. We both are just babes in Christ, and at the same level of understanding, and do not always know why things happen. However, God is FAR above and will make me understand, because he knows why!

The Bible does say that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and I personally believe that, that friend is none else but God Himself! Now, do not misunderstand me, God does bring great people into our lives, and they are there for sometimes only a short amount of time, or perhaps forever. In addition, our family, and God are the foremost. They come before anyone else. They will be there forever, and can help us, because they truly love us. God is a God of love, and correction. There are a number of things my friend and I do not agree on, and some of those things do sadly come between us. It is a matter of setting things out, and sometimes it never works out again. Should we let go of this person? This is a question that I myself cannot answer at the moment. I would be more than glad if some of you can and then you can leave me a comment. We should turn our hearts to God, our thoughts, and our words to Him. Go to Him first for a problem or question. He is the only one who can answer it. And it may be that he will answer it through another man or woman.

God is my choice of a best friend, he can be yours too. It is a matter of clinging onto that which is pure and right. He will NEVER lead you astray and will correct you if you do get off the road! A good friend will correct you too, and yet, we often do not take that correction because we may have a pride issue. The Lord can work through each one of us, no matter what! The quote I mentioned in the beginning of this post, refers back to GOD. He gives me a friendship which is unbreakable! As some of you may see, a lot of what I have just said is still a great confusion to me, and yet I know that God is the ultimate friend.


Robert E. Lee, a General in Chief of the Confederate armies once said, "Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one."

If I have gone off on any of this, please do leave me comment! I'm open to hear your opinions!!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I practically agree with about everything you had to say. It goes along with my beliefs and yet I do see the importance of having a best friend besides God. I have had my best friend for almost 5 yrs. now and it's awesome!!! I tell her everything, although, God does come before ANYONE! And HE ALWAYS will!

Natalie

Kalani said...

Vanessa~ It is so lovely how the Lord is working in your life day by day!!

Josh said...

Thanks Vanessa! God has totally brought you and your blog into my life as an encouragment to me! I am going through a similar struggle of having "friends" and I think that God is trying to draw me closer to Himself. God is a better friend than we can ever hope to have on this earth!

Thanks again for this post.
In Christ Alone,
Josh