God’s Dream For Friendship

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (The Message) 

“With a friend you can face the worst.”

Having healthy friendships is vital. They give us a space to share the highs and lows of life. I think God dreamed up friendships as a place to grow and change, to love and be loved, to serve and be served, to know and be known.

Sometimes it's easy to hide behind the busyness of our lives, distracted from our need for deep connection. It may look like hiding behind studying, a career, the pursuit of a dream, raising a family. But if we're honest, that need for connection remains. We crave connection because we were created for it. While you can get by with surface-level relationships, you can't be strengthened through them. Life is just too short and connection is too vital to live superficially. We need intentionality to develop acquaintances into strong friendships.

In the early church, they saw it as a privilege to share in each other's brokenness. They didn't stay in the shallows but instead jumped into vulnerability. The depth of their relationships allowed them to experience connection in a way that reflects Heaven and changed things here on earth.

Today as we look at our own friendships, let's ask for courage to go deeper, to come alive in ourselves and call out the life in others and to connect in a way that reflects Heaven and changes things here on earth.

Prayer — Thank you for the friendships you have given me. Show me those to whom I can entrust myself and so enjoy the joys of deep relationships.