Only True Friend

Have you ever wished you could have a really good friend? Someone you knew would always have your back?

Hey GEM Girls! It's natural to want to have someone you can trust. As human beings, we long for stability in our friendships. Security and love are two feelings we tend to search for. A lot of times we find ourselves so desperate for this that we end up trusting people too quickly. We spill our secrets and tell them our insecurities only to find out that they are not trustworthy. Then we end up hurt and empty, feeling like we have lost faith in humanity.

There is a story from the Bible that comes to mind when I think about betrayal. It is the story of Jacob and Laban (Genesis 29). Laban was Jacob's uncle. Jacob wanted to marry his daughter, Rachel. So he worked 7 years to pay the bride price. When the day that he had been waiting for so long came, he found out that his uncle had betrayed him and tricked him into marrying his other daughter, Leah. Jacob was understandably upset. But Laban had no intention of making things right... Instead, he made Jacob work another seven years for the hand of Rachel. Jacob had been betrayed by his own family. He had every right to leave Leah and walk away from Laban's home. But instead, he chose to stay. Depending on God to be with him and bless him, he continued to do what was right even though he had been unfairly treated...

Sometimes we can feel a little bit like Jacob, hurt by friends and maybe even family. But if we make it a habit to depend on God through it all we will be able to bear it. I know I am speaking from experience when I say it really hurts when a friend betrays us. It seems like the more we get hurt, the less we trust. But we need to remind ourselves that God is our only true friend. Every friend we have will fail us, but Jesus never will.

In Jeremiah 17:1-8 we can see the contrast between trusting in God and trusting in other humans.

Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh her strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord. For (s)he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.

Blessed is the (wo)man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.

For (s)he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Have you ever had an experience with being hurt by a friend? How did God help you through it? Share in the comments below!

Love,

Your Sister In Christ,