Craving Community - How the Gospel Helps You Cultivate Faithful FriendshipsSample

If you have struggled with friendship in the past, you might be tempted to be discouraged. You may have had friendships end due to conflict or disagreements. Maybe you do have friends, but they are not as close or as vulnerable as you would like them to be. All your efforts may have fallen short in the past. You may just have a hard time getting along with people. This all can be overwhelming, and it is hard to know what your next step should be. When we are discouraged, we must remember who our Father is.

God is the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17). And friendship is a good gift. We must remember that God is a cheerful and generous giver. We can ask of Him expectantly and trust Him to provide what is good for us.

When we have questions about God’s faithfulness to provide friends, we can look to Jesus. God did not keep Jesus from us. He gave us the good gift of His Son. If God did not even withhold His only Son from us, we can know that He does not intend to withhold any good thing from us. God is a good Father. If we ask Him for bread, He is not going to give us a stone (Matthew 7:9). In the same way, when we ask for friendship, God will be faithful to provide in His way and His time.

The burden of making friends does not rest solely on you. You may feel as if you are lacking in the ability to talk to people or relate to others. You can ask God to help you start conversations. You can ask God to give you wisdom about who to make friends with and how. There is no limit to what God can do in your life. You need only to trust His heart, His hand, and His timing.

In what ways have you struggled with friendship in the past? How can you trust Him with your desires?