Friendships

Written by:Ellen Banks Elwell

Have you ever gone through a time in your life when you felt lonely but found it difficult to reach out for companionship? I have. At a period in my life when I felt depressed and discouraged, reaching out felt risky. I feared what might happen if I didn’t sense acceptance from the other person.

Philip Yancy and Tim Stafford see some good in this condition. They write, “I believe God created us incomplete, not as a cruel trick to edge us toward self-pity, but as an opportunity to edge us toward others with similar needs. His whole plan for us involves relationships with others: reach out to the world around us in love. Loneliness, that painful twinge inside, makes us reach out.”

With all the hustle and bustle of our schedules as moms, we have a fair amount of physical companionship-especially when the children are young. But it’s easy to feel lonely, even when there are lots of bodies in the room, if our soul hasn’t had enough opportunity to knit with a friend or companion. God built this need into us.

Think of the woman Jesus described who lost a silver coin and upon finding it rejoiced with friends. Or remember the widow ministered to by Elisha who was instructed to ask all her friends and neighbors for jars to hold the oil that was about to be miraculously multiplied. Asking her friends for their help may have felt risky and humbling, but I like to imagine the joy and excitement they all shared in the experience.

When we get to feeling lonely, we can present our need to God because he cares, sees, and provides. But we can also then call a friend or someone we’d like to get to know and put something on the calendar!

Father,

Thank you that you intend for us to need other people. Thank you that you understand our loneliness because you experienced it yourself when you lived on earth. May we do our part in connecting with others around us. Amen.