{"id":72,"date":"2017-02-01T15:37:31","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T15:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wewaitheworks\/?p=72"},"modified":"2017-02-01T15:37:31","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T15:37:31","slug":"god-and-friendships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wewaitheworks\/2017\/02\/god-and-friendships.html","title":{"rendered":"God and Friendships"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\"Friends\"<\/div>\n
Friends are a gift from God. Not everyone is meant to be a best friend forever, though. God lets us become close with certain people for many years until we are old, while other people only stay in our lives until they find someone better. The sad fact is, that people do this all too often. The even sadder part is that the person, who is abandoned by their so-called \u2018friend\u2019, may think that it is their fault that the friendship ended.<\/div>\n
I learned that it wasn\u2019t my fault that a friendship didn\u2019t last, years after someone walked out of my life. I\u2019d blamed myself for many years before God and other people helped me gain the realization that the friendship ending had nothing to do with me and that it wasn\u2019t my fault. Satan had me wrecked with guilt for so long, I had literally given up on the possibility that the other person had been the one who\u2019d walked away from me. I\u2019d never walked out on them.<\/div>\n
When you give your all in a friendship, it can be very hard to put the pieces of your heart back together after the friendship falls off the wayside. Especially if it was all you thought you ever wanted in life. That certainly was the case for me with one of my friendships. I worked as hard as I could to keep that person in my life only to have them walk out and leave me cut and dry. I couldn\u2019t figure out why God would allow pain like that to happen to me. But then one day, as clear as ever, He spoke to me saying, \u201cI let that person walk out of your life because you wouldn\u2019t have been able to handle what they were doing and what they were going through.\u201d I\u2019m grateful for God giving me that realization, but to this day I still deal with that pain of losing someone very dear to me, that I thought would be in my life forever.\u00a0 But I accept it as God\u2019s will now, instead of fighting it.<\/div>\n
\u00a0Another person who is very dear to me, helped me realize that loosing someone who doesn\u2019t appreciate the friendship, isn\u2019t really a loss, it is a gain. Every day is a new chance to continue working on yourself to gain the feeling of peace and happiness that you used to have. He can heal your heart from any wounds.<\/div>\n
God has helped me feel better about the friendship ending, by putting new people in my life that are just as important\u00a0as the friend I lost.\u00a0 Even though the pain of losing the friendship is very raw, I know God is doing it to protect my heart from further damage in the future.<\/div>\n
God knows who belongs in your life and who doesn\u2019t. Ask Him for the help in discerning whom you should and shouldn\u2019t associate with. If something in your heart is telling you to stay away from certain people, it could be God sending you a message to be careful around them. Take that voice in your head seriously.\u00a0 I\u2019ve met some great people in life, but I\u2019m still trying to figure out if they really want to be friends with me. I also know that I\u2019ve let some good potential friends fall off the wayside because of the fear that I had that the friendship wouldn\u2019t last. I try to always remember, God is in control of who is in my life and who isn’t.
\nIt\u2019s an ongoing search,\u00a0trying to\u00a0find friends that are true,\u00a0and only God can help\u00a0you overcome the obstacle.\u00a0There may be times when you\u00a0hold back on getting too close to people because of what\u00a0you’ve\u00a0been through. But God is at work and\u00a0will put new people in your life that\u00a0you will\u00a0consider more than friends.\u00a0You’ll consider them family.<\/div>\n
God can help you discern who belongs in your life and who doesn\u2019t as well. Ask Him for guidance as to whom you should put as a priority in your life. God can give you clear-cut signs as to who is a real friend and who isn\u2019t. God never said you couldn\u2019t be friends with people who are unbelievers either, but it is a good idea to figure out which of your friends are really seeking God in their lives and which aren\u2019t. You may even be placed in someone\u2019s life, to lead them to God.<\/div>\n
For example, a real, true friend, is there for you no matter what, any time, day or night. A fake friend is someone who claims to be there for you, and then uses you for his or her own selfish desires or chooses to only be there for you when it is convenient for them. Ask God to help you look for those warning signs.\u00a0 Though they may not be clear all the time, God will guide you to know who is real and who is fake. Remember, there is always one friend you can always count on, and that\u2019s Jesus.<\/div>\n
Proverbs 17:17 says, \u201cA friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity.\u201d God is there for us as our friend and especially during times of adversity in our lives. Proverbs 18:24 says, 24 “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.\u201d<\/div>\n
God is the only true reliable friend we have in this world. Even though He gives us true friends as blessings here on Earth, we can still find a lot of comfort knowing that He is the main one we should come to trust in and turn to. Revelation 3:20 says 20 \u201cHere I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.\u201d<\/div>\n
God will provide exactly who you need in your life. Trust God’s plan and let Him lead you to the right group of friends.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friends are a gift from God. Not everyone is meant to be a best friend forever, though. God lets us become close with certain people for many years until we are old, while other people only stay in our lives until they find someone better. The sad fact is, that people do this all too…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":611,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,14,16,15],"tags":[5,17,8],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-faith","category-friends","category-friendships","category-lessons","tag-faith","tag-friends","tag-god"],"yoast_head":"\nGod and Friendships - We Wait He Works<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Friends are a gift that we should cherish. With them we can learn valuable lessons. 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