“For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies” Psalm 57:10
Juniorhigh school can be one long intensive seminar on drama inrelationships. I am convinced that any psychological malfunction in mylife today is directly traceable to those two years of school. Okay,maybe it’s not quite that dramatic, but junior high did teach me alittle about fickle friendships.
I was minding my own businesswhen one of Nancy’s friends came up to me and announced, “Hey, did youknow that Nancy likes you?” To be honest, I had never given Nancy asecond thought until that moment, but suddenly I was intrigued. My maleego was suddenly stirred and I liked the idea of being liked! So Ipassed my message back through the string of friends that had conveyedthe message to me. That is, of course, how junior high romance works. Itold my friend, who told another friend, who told Nancy’s friend, whothen passed the message back to her.
“Joe says that he likes you too!”
Butby the time my message got back to Nancy, she no longer liked me! Forthe first time I was singed by the fickle flames of romance.
Alot of our friendships are like that, aren’t they? We look back acrossthe landscape of life and see different friends popping up here andthere—our buddies from junior high, the girl we took to the prom inhigh school, the college roommates, the co-worker from the cubicle nextto us. We realize quickly that many of those friendships, oftenconsumingly important at the time, fade into dim memories leaving usthinking, “I wonder what happened to…”
Even more disconcerting isrealizing how fickle we are in friendships. In honest moments, we couldlist the people we no longer get in touch with, or the phone calls wedon’t return. In life, solid, faithful-to-the-core friendships are fewand far between.
I wonder if you and I bring that same dynamicinto our relationship with Jesus? When we first meet Jesus, He iseverything to us! But as time wears on, we tend to drift away. When wasthe last time He heard from you? When was the last time you sat down tohear His voice and fellowship with Him? As the old saying goes: ”IfGod seems far away, guess who moved!” You may have gone on to otherinterests, but thankfully He hasn’t lost interest in you. He, more thananyone else, remains there waiting for you as your faithful friend!
Thepsalmist often sings of God’s undying love for us. And I need to tellyou that it’s not the kind of love that rides on emotions or favors. Itis an expression of God’s enduring, rock-solid commitment to you as Hisbeloved, and it is often linked, as it is here in Psalm 57:10, with Hisunfailing faithfulness. In fact, the psalmist literally cannot get hismind around the extensiveness of God’s love and faithfulness, concedingfinally that God’s love “reaches to the heavens” and His faithfulness“reaches to the skies.” In other words, it is without limit and withoutend.
So when you receive word that God loves you, please knowthat it is not a junior high school fickle, fleeting kind of love. Itis a life-changing, eternally satisfying offer of a fulfillingfriendship with your Creator. Today He stands knocking at your doorwanting to come in and spend some quality time with you (Revelation3:20). Go ahead, open the door of your heart—it’s your faithful friend!
YOUR JOURNEY…
- In what ways have you experienced the fickle nature of human relationships?
- How have those experiences shaped your understanding of a relationship with God?
- Read Psalm 108:1-5. How do these verses encourage you about the faithful nature of God’s love?
