Have you ever felt like running away?

Photo courtesy RichardSweet, rgbstock.com

Running away. 

That's what I want to do when I allow my life to get too busy. When I'm juggling so much that things start falling through the cracks. When the pace I'm keeping causes my body to rebel and I find myself fighting stress-induced maladies. When I have so much on my mind that I can't remember important stuff. 

I tend to keep going until I hit the wall. I crash and burn. I get all ugly with everyone in my life. Everything they do irritates me.  I don't even like the face I see looking back at me in the mirror.  I rant, I grouse, I snap. You don't want to be around me. I don't even want to be around me.

That's the state I've been in for a while, now. This weekend, it all came to a head and I just wanted to run away. Unfortunately, that's not an option, so I turned to my old stand-by stress reliever - food.  I headed to the grocery store with every intention of filling my cart with junk and then eating myself into oblivion. 

I started through the aisles with a lump in my throat and tears threatening to bust loose. I had just placed the first item in my cart when I got a text from a friend.

"Come have breakfast with me in the morning."

My response - "I'm pretty toxic right now and I'm probably contagious."

I told her where I was and what I was about to do. Fortunately, she loves me enough to risk making me mad. The next few texts back and forth made me face the truth, made me realize that was a stupid way to handle my feelings, made me admit that gorging myself on junk food would only make things worse.

I already knew that, but at the time, I didn't care. Thank God, she did!

I left the store without buying anything. Knowing she was praying for me at that very moment. We met the next morning for breakfast and then spent the day together.  We talked through what was bothering me.  We laughed together.  She listened. She gave good, godly advise. She understood.

I didn't want to run away anymore.

Thank you, Lord, for seeing me right were I was - in the middle of the grocery store about to indulge in sinful gluttony - my drug of choice. You loved me enough to prompt a friend to contact me at that very moment. Thank you.

It's true, when you are tempted, God will provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

It's up to us to take the way out or to continue on our path of destruction.

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Iron Sharpens Iron

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17 NLT

Do you have a friend who keeps you on your spiritual toes? One who listens to what's on your heart, then has a ready word of encouragement, comfort or even admonition when the occasion calls for it?

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Do you have a friend who will give you godly advice when you have a decision to make? One who pull you back from the brink of destruction when they see you about to make a huge mistake?

Do you have a friend who will pray for you on a regular basis, love you as you are, but also tell you (in a frank, but loving way) when you are being a jerk?

Have you given anyone in your life the permission to be this kind of friend?

If you answered yes to these questions, you are blessed indeed.

I have a couple of friends like this and they keep me grounded in Christ, while encouraging me to be all God made me to be.

Of course, in order to have relationships like this, one must be willing to open up to another, to share who you really are, flaws and all. Then you must be willing to allow them to speak freely into your life without taking offense.

You hear them out, take what they say into careful consideration, pray, asking God to show you what to hold onto and what to let go of and most of all, you return the favor. You be that kind of friend in return.

We were never meant to do life on our own, but to walk in fellowship with others.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:9-12


Prayer:
Father, thank you for the friends you have put into my life. Help us to develop our relationships to the point that we are willing to allow one another to sharpen us spiritually. Help me to be that kind of friend to those that you placed in my life. Amen

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(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)