Photo by Abby Tolsma
Have you ever struggled with friendships? Maybe you don’t have friends or your friends have hurt you. I’ve been there more than once and more than I cared to be. It feels like one moment the world is perfect—you have that friend to tell everything to, do everything with, the one who always has your back. The next moment, there’s nobody.
When we fall away from our friends it can sour our feelings towards new friendships. It may make you feel like there is nobody that you can trust, no one who is going to stick around. And you feel alone. Friends are human. Humans change over and over and it’s true that you may not be able to trust people. But even if you don’t have any good friends, no one to confide in and no one to trust, there is Someone who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
We are told in Psalm 25:14a that, “the friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him.” We have a friend who will never leave or forsake us. Now you might be thinking, “Of course that’s what she’s going to say for a Christian article.” But hear me out for a second: Have you ever thought about this? Like actually contemplated what this means?
I’ve struggled because I’ve felt like I don’t belong anywhere in any specific group of friends. Can you relate? But get this: I know that I have a friend in Jesus Christ. Because I have faith in Him and believe in Him, I can’t let myself wallow in self-pity about what I perceive as urgent problems. To complain that nobody is there for me would be to ignore the fact that God is, and that’s not a statement that I want to be making.
“To complain that nobody is there for me would be to ignore the fact that God is”
Those who fear God have the beautiful gift of friendship with the Lord. When others ignore you, reject you, and leave you, God does the opposite. He shows us His love, He gives us our worth and He will never leave or forsake us. I think that’s pretty cool. Remember that when you may be friendless or struggling with friendships. The Lord is always near.