October 27

“Let us be God’s friends, then, in the best way we know how.  Let us trust Him as we like our friends to trust us.  Let us lean on Him as we urge our friends to lean on us.  Let us try to please Him for love’s sake as love leads us to try to please our earthly friends.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 10/8

I’ve always expected a lot from my friends.  This is probably why I have so few.  Either I’ve backed off from the friendship or they gave up on it.  I’ve also discovered I seem to be a better friend when I know there is an “end date”.  People who I’ve considered only acquaintances I suddenly befriend just before they’re scheduled to move away.  This may have something to do with moving every year like I did after fourth grade--I never had to sustain the friendship for more than a year.  This phenomenon is especially noteworthy when you consider I’ve been married to the same man for over 34 years*. This subject of friendship intrigues me to the point that I’ve requested that the song "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" be sung at my funeral.   But Hannah has caused me to pause and examine whether I am a friend of God’s.  He is my friend, but have I acted like a friend to Him?  Do I set the same standards for myself that I’ve set for my friends, including God?  The old adage, “To have a friend you must be a friend,” isn’t necessarily true when it comes to God because He will be our friend no matter what.  But, if I want to truly experience a friendship with God, I have to carry my end of the relationship.

*42 years now (as of 2011)

“You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.”  James 2:22, 23