Old Friends & Faith

I was wondering this morning why it is that we have and make so many friends that come and go in our lives and then some friends that stay close forever? If you look at the facts it really doesn't make much sense really. I mean if we make friends and are good friends they should stay good friends forever or at least to some degree, but thats not true. I wondered this when I read Kaleb's facebook page this morning. I looked at the people who write on it and wonder how he could have known and how they know him. There's a lot of people that I have never heard of writing on his page and I wondered how close of friends they were. When you read their stories you would think they were very close friends. How Kaleb would make them laugh when they were upset or give good advice when they needed to hear a 3rd persons opinion. But I know Kaleb's friends the ones that were and are his friends forever. I know them. So I wonder why people come and go in my life and how they are touched or not touched by my presence. I have friends who I've known for a long time, I mean a long time, and there are friends ones that are a close email or once in a while call. And then I have friends who I've met that are an everyday email, I.M., phone call or text message. So what makes these sets of friends so different? Sure some move away and some stay close in location but that can't be all that makes them different, there has to be more... right?



This morning I had forgotten what I had read yesterday in my devotional book, so I recapped because then I started to wonder if I had read it at all. In a few moments I remembered that I had and went on to today. But something kept drawing me back to yesterday's scripture base, Gal 5:5, so I re-read that scripture. Mind you I'm not very ambitious as of late so if a scripture is not given to me then I just don't read it or attempt to find one. Gal 5:5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. Ok, so on the surface this has nothing to do with friendship right? Right! Except it does. I have read a lot of scriptures (one at a time) lately, and what they mean on the surface has little affect on me but what they say in my spirit means much, much more. So a little background on my point, I got this Streams in the Desert in June from a friend, and without fail had to read what April 24th said, it was all about faith and having faith in God. On July 24th (also a Saturday) the devotion was on faith. On Tuesday July 27th again on faith. Maybe faith is not so far from friendship after all...



Faith in the spiritual sense is believing in something you can't see, you can't explain, and you don't understand.... not to far from friendship is it? Friendship is something, when you really get to the core of it, can't be explained or reasoned. You can't take something out and say "see this is friendship". Friendship like faith is unseen, it is a presence between people that is just there and ready for use. We even use these two words together -my "faithful friend". Faith and friendship are not to far apart in my worldly life, and maybe faith is my friendship with God. I can't see faith and I can't 'see' friendship. I know I have friends and I know I have faith, even when I don't feel like I do, faith is still there in my life. My friendship with God is faith based, as I'm sure yours is too, and like a friend, He is there when I call on Him, altho I can't physically see Him, He still shows up. And just like friends, He can disappoint me, make me laugh, make me cry, fill me with joy, give me comfort, and just stand back and wait for the storm in my life to ebb away. When I least expect it He knows when I need His help, His words, His peace. When I don't call on Him, don't look for His number, don't search for His presence, don't want to be around Him or hear His name, He is there...a faithful friend.