That Friend You Have, She Can't Be Your Everything.

That friend you have she wasn't made to be your everything. She can't replace your relationship with Jesus and she can't fill a void only Jesus can. 

I know you want her to be able to walk through every season with you. 

I know you want to spend every moment of free time you have together. 

I know you want to have meaningful conversations and break through the small talk. 

One of the biggest mistakes I've made in friendship is thinking that all friends are created equal and just just aren't. Just as all people are not the same, they don't have the same response or likes as everyone. 

Because God made us all different. 

Maybe that friend you have is only going to walk through a season with you.

Maybe she's only going to call you on the weekends.

Maybe she's not going to call at all and needs a little extra nudge from you. 

I've wanted deep relationships with people who just didn't have the ability to go there.

I've wanted them to care about me the way I care about them, and they just didn't. 

One of the biggest lessons God has taught me is that that friend I have or that friendship I am trying hard to build she can't be my everything. 

She can't replace my relationship with Him. 

I've gotten into trouble, I've been hurt and offended trying to make this friend be something she can't be, give something she can't give.

Instead the Lord is teaching me, while friendship is valuable, building community is His heart, you can't put your everything into one person.

I have friendships that I go really deep with and we talk about everything, we share our sorrows and our dreams with each other.

I have other friendships that are fun and silly, they aren't deep but they fill a different friendship need and that's ok.

What I am learning is to be thankful for the friendships he has placed in my life. I'm learning to be present where he has me and who he has me with. 

I'm learning to lay down the areas of friendship to him and not put so much pressure on this person to fulfill needs only Jesus can. 

It has taken me a while to get to this place, a while to realize the mistakes and pressures I was putting on myself and others.

If you're struggling with friendships today, I encourage you to consider this today; 

Consider asking Jesus to show you the areas of friendship your struggling with. The people you are struggling with. 

Asking yourself; do they encourage my relationship with Christ? Do they make me want to be better? 

Do they point me towards the cross? Do I have an unhealthy relationship with them and an unhealthy expectation of them?

I know that friendships at times can seem lonely and hard at times, but may we consider in those seasons to draw closer to the Lord and remember that he can heal and he can bring restoration to even the most difficult relationships.

"Greater love has no one that this, they he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Jesus did this for us. He was the ultimate friend. 

God has taught me to focus on the quality and not the quantity. I am thankful today for a handful of really great friends God has placed in my life. But here's the truth and I hope you catch this; they are all so different. Not one of them the same. I have different relationships with each of them, but they all mean something to me in my life. They all make up different parts of my life and God uses them in different was in my life. 

And that is ok. That is good. That is God's faithfulness to me in friendships.