Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at ALL TIMES, and a brother is there for the difficult times.
A true friend is not only there when things are going well and easy. But they are especially there in the dark times, when life is not so fun. This is when we desperately need people to be with us. Sometimes that is all we need, someone to just be there with us in our pain. You don’t always have to say the perfect thing or be Super Inspirational Person. Sometimes you need to SHUT YOUR BIG YAPPER! as Chris Farley told us.
I shall never forget what my friend Danny did for me when my father passed away. He sat with me. He didn’t talk. He sat with me. And it meant the world to me.
So far, in my few years and miles on this journey, I have found the most effective ministering to be listening very intently with the ear of your heart, and then asking good questions.
Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit is dryness to the bones.
A joyful heart as a result of the healing presence of God and God’s people is what is so needed to combat the darkness of life. We can get through anything as long as the one who means the most to us is with us thru it. Who means the most to you?
And remember who the real enemy is through all of this. When our brothers and sisters are going through the rough stuff of life, they may not be the most pleasant people to be around or the most rational. Look beyond that to their pain and where it comes from. We have an enemy. Be angry, annoyed, and sick of “him,” not our dear hurting brothers and sisters. And listen to YHWH’s voice through it all, not the enemy, not even the hurt person only. For then you will just be dragged down as well.
As has been said, “I’ll sit with you in your hole, but I’m not gonna hang pictures on the wall.”
Matthew 17:5
“This is my dear son and I’m delighted with Him. Pay attention to Him.”
Here we have the ultimate affirmation, don’t we? YHWH states who Jesus is, how He feels about Him, and how He sees Him. And thanks to Jesus, this applies to us as well! This is our true identity.
We are our loving God’s dear child.
He delights in us.
He approves of us and accepts us. There’s not much better approval than someones’s endorsement of “Pay attention to her” or “Listen to this guy.”
We actually are worthy, not because of anything we’ve attained though, or need to attain. Which takes so much pressure off. We simply are accepted because of what Jesus attained for us, because of supernatural love, because of who God is. Therefore we just are. Everyday, we choose to live into that truth or we don’t.
Choose to take one hour today to totally live into that truth and see how it changes you.