A True Friend
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24, ESV).
I've always wanted a best friend. When I was young, I kept hoping someday I would find one. As I got older, this translated into the desire for a husband—for that one intimate relationship where you share life with another. I've had best friends during a few short seasons, and have yet to be married, but I’ve found a friend who's available and present 24/7. He's ready to help, sustain, encourage, and just be there—in any moment of life. God's constant presence and friendship has seen me through the most painful times of my life. He’s provided more than enough peace and joy in the midst of them, so I could endure. He has been the friend that “sticks closer than a brother.”
We all struggle with loneliness at times. The good news is that God can fill us up. When I communicate with Him throughout the day, sharing my hurts, fears, joys, and all-around experience of life, He's there. He comforts, directs, and encourages me, and resolves things that trouble my spirit. He takes away the aloneness that comes from being without Him. We’re made for Him. When this relationship is non-existent or surface level at best, we experience a deep loneliness that doesn't go away. Even the best of friends or a wonderful spouse won’t cure it. All the work, activity, and pleasure in the world doesn't satisfy it. But He does. He fills me up on the inside, so regardless of my circumstances, I'm happy and satisfied in life. I experience struggles, pain, and sorrows, but things are good—and it all comes from knowing and living life with Him.
“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11, NIV).
My greatest hope is that everyone gains the one relationship in life that counts above all others—relationship with God. He loves each of us and offers an invitation to friendship. We find it in Christ, being reconciled to God through His shed blood on the cross: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ . . . not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:17–19a). Accept the invitation—become a “friend of God” (James 2:23).