The Friendship of God

I just had the weekend from heaven. It was probably one of the most memorable 48 hours I've had in quite a while, all thanks to some great friends I got to hang with. It started Friday night when I went with David, a good friend of mine, to see the new Iron Man movie. David first suggested we see the movie months ago, and I think he was pretty stoked about it; he kept texting me on my cell about if I was ready and where I was (I was in the car en route to meet him). I really appreciated David's intentionality, which showed he wanted to see the movie with me of all people... Anyhow, this film was a total guy flick; a man movie soaked in Testosterone from start to finish. We loved every minute of it. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job playing Tony Stark, and every scene where he drives his Audi 8 David would lean over and say, "Hey, he's driving my car!" Not only was it a great action hero movie but there was also a spiritual element to it. Playboy billionaire Tony Stark has a conversion experience; after suffering at the hand of those who used the very weapons he manufactures, he changes his mind about being an arms dealer. He perfects his Iron man suit he originally made to escape captivity and uses it to fight for justice. The most memorable line in the film was, "I should have been dead, unless it was for a reason. I finally know what I have to do." A great movie and I highly recommend it.

The next day I drove down to Calgary to meet with someone special to me. This is Kailey; we met four years ago through work, became friends and kept in touch after she moved away. She had (and still does) have a bright personality, a beautiful smile and a heart for Jesus. Looking back I see that God brought her into my life when it was at its darkest point, where I was deep in Clinical Depression. Her friendship breathed life into me when I felt so much sadness, but our relationship was not without roadbumps. I had said something thoughtless to her back then which hurt her; it was unintentional, but still the damage was done. And even though she forgave me I still carried all these years the pain of having hurt someone I considered a close friend. So in addition to catching up on what was going on in our lives we talked about what happened then. It was a time of receiving forgiveness and healing that I badly needed, where at one point I asked her why she wanted to be my friend. She paused for a second and then she said, "It's because you're a good person, and I need to surround myself with good people." Kailey is a gem, and I'm grateful to have her as a friend.

The grand finale came on Sunday when we saw Nathan & Dawn. They are our friends who are doing missions work in Lithuania, a small, former Soviet bloc nation on the Baltic Sea. These are the other friends we visited with when we went to England last year, and Angel & I count them as among our closest friends. We did an IKEA lunch after church and after they visited with Nathan's parents they came over to our place for supper. It was so neat (and a little surreal) having them sit on our couch when we've been so used to them being away in eastern Europe, but we just seem to pick up where we left off last year in the UK. We talked about the joys and struggles of ministry both there and here at home, and it was a great time of fellowship, friendship and love. Sadly, we will have to say goodbye in a week when they depart for Lithuania once again.

What all of these experiences did was to connect me relationally not only with my friends, but also with Jesus. As I wrote earlier on I'm in a new season of healing and growth, where I'm learning about the friendship of God. The time I spent with each of these dear friends gave me a glimpse into God's heart for me. Jesus offers unconditional friendship with those who trust Him; however, our friendship with Him depends on giving friendship to others and receiving friendship from others (it's the receiving part that I tend to struggle with). I've taken to heart lately the words of Jesus in John 15:9-15, which have really been hitting home with me. I'll end things off here with the passage that has really blessed me, and I hope that it will stir in you a desire to know that God not only loves us but likes us, and likes to just be with us.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:9-15 (NIV)