Day 13... A Friend For All Times

Day 13... A Friend For All Times

Bible verse:

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon Called Peter and his brother Andrew.  They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  At once they left their nets and followed him.  Matthew 4:18-20

My apologies for being late on this post, I pray you will forgive me.  Unfortunately this is one of my many weaknesses, procrastination.  I have asked God to help me in this area of my life, and it is getting better, but I am resistant to change.  Dan is aware of this weakness in me and loves me anyway.  He is my wonderful "mate", and I am accountable to him.  Sometimes he says things I do not want to hear, but I am learning that these are words I need to hear.  I love him for that, but sometimes it is too easy to brush them away, or to be stubborn and then do what I want to do anyway.  Such as putting off a post on here, or a homework assignment that I know I can make time to do early, but I wait until the 11th hour.  This is where I wish I had a friend to whom I had to accountable.  Yes, there is Jesus, but, well, anyway.  On with today's posting.

In the bible verse Jesus calls to Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew to come and join Him so that he can teach them how be "fishers of men."  As much time as Jesus spent away from everyone, he too needed a bond with other people.  He and Peter were very close and shared many high and low moments together.  "God created us for relationship" (Moore, p.69).

Over these next few days we will look at how Christ is with us as we are on our spiritual journey with a trusted mate and/or friend.  We aren't meant to take this journey alone, we need friends who help us understand the Word, understand ourselves, good and bad.  They and we as friends need to be able to hear what is said and be honest and caring in our reactions and responses.  We and they as friends are our human guides, so long as they are on a spiritual journey also, and a believer in Christ.

This next part makes me a little more than anxious because it makes me think about my failures at being a friend. 

God has just given me the answer, truly...  television and movies have been my friends for a very long time, almost forever.  Well now what a revelation.  Thank you God!  It makes sense now and if you will allow me to explain for a moment, , , I watch a lot of both, and depending on my mood, I can choose what I watch, those shows that comfort me when I am down, those that make me laugh when I feel like laughing.  I tend to stay away from scary movies because well, some of them hit too close to home.  Nightmares from the past (of course not ones with Jason or Aliens), but the shows and movies that remind me of things I want to forget or thought I had dealt with but haven't.  Those I tend to stay away from, unless the topic is something that doesn't have a direct touch with my life, then I watch them because the hero swoops in and saves the day.  Wow!  I thank God for revealing this to me. 

I think about the few friends that have entered my life and are always there when I need them, and I have always tried to be there when they needed me.  Mostly if there were a tragedy, or life crisis.  But what about all the other times, when just being with one another was what they wanted.  I have failed miserably there and God has opened my eyes to this right here, right now.  Wow!  I thank Him for that, and I pray that He will continue to show me these things that will help me be closer to Him, especially through the friendships of others.

According to Moore, (p.71) he explains that being open, honest, and vulnerable with another person, especially someone other than a mate is important, but people's defenses go up and their ears shut down.  This is why I was so anxious when I read this part of today's lesson.  It is scary opening yourself up to others.  Again Moore says being vulnerable can be threatening; admitting weaknesses, bad feelings, and failures can be hard; and being put on the spot to give an account of our choices can be embarrassing.  Admitting we need help (sometimes lots of it) can cause us to feel less than victorious.  So, yes sharing your spiritual journey with an accountability partner takes valuable time and requires effort to schedule.  He says that we'll also find it take a lot of emotional energy too.

Those are some of the reasons that show there is a price to pay to have the trust level high enough for spiritual accountability to work well.  Thankfully, the benefits outweigh the costs (p.71).

So, as we set out on this journey, or if we are already waist deep in it, we need to remember that we need trusted mates, and trusted friends to help us, and for us to help as well.  It is a two way street, and if we are to walk boldly up the middle of that street we need people around us that we can trust to make sure we don't get hit, or to at the very least think about what we feeling, choices we think we should make, and why.  It is important that we have a mate or friend to encourage us through difficult times, one to challenge us to victory in times of temptations, and someone to help us hold on when we are most ready to give up.

I believe in time that as I learn how to build better friendships I will see Christ along the way and as the friendships grow down here, God will show himself even more to us.  I pray today that you too will have learned from this days lesson what it takes to build healthy spiritual relationships with others, and if you already understand how to do this, you will be kind to those who are lost and don't quite have it grip on how to do it.

Remember:  Our spiritual journey finds enrichment in the company of a trusted mate or friend that can be found in no other setting.

God Bless!