The kind of friend to be...

A few days ago I posted a question and y'all apparently got shy on me and didn't respond. And I think if I waited long enough I'd hear from people, but I'm not patient, and God has made a point of really laying this on my heart and head so I need to get it out of my system. :) (I also recognize that a few of you said you're still thinking and that's completely okay.)

The other day I emailed Char and said, "Why do we always feel like it's not enough to simply point people back to the Gospel. And why do we feel like it's not enough when others do that for us."

Her response, which I completely agree with, was this, "Maybe it is because we live in a culture where it is believed that it is not enough...that ultimately Christ is not enough. The Gospel has been so watered down and humans have been so built up that we don't want a Savior, we want a knight in shining armor...a fictitious character to come and take us away, out of pain and suffering and into bliss."

So so often I am given access to a friend's life, ears to hear their struggles or eyes to actually see it.

And boy do I want to fix it.

I want to make it better. I want to be "that person" who made it all okay. I want to be a savior.

I forget that they've already got a savior and there's not room for more than one of those.

I forget that I've got my own junk so how in the world am I going to fix theirs.

I forget that just because I may "understand" what they're dealing with, it was Jesus who rescued me, not someone else who "understood."

So I don't point them to the Gospel. I point them to myself. And what ends up happening is that I don't have the time or the energy or the resources to actually live up to my word. I can't make good on the promise to save because I will always be too empty to do that. And then I will have left them...seeking something in me that they won't find and possibly with bigger problems than they started with.

And on the rare occasion that I don't forget all those things, well it's then that I have fear.

I fear that they'll think I don't care. That I'm taking the easy way out.

I fear that they'll go find someone else to give them what they want.

I fear that if I ONLY turn them to the Gospel that God won't actually show up for them.

I can only imagine that I fear all those things because that is so frequently how I respond when others do it for me.

I've been thinking on this so much lately and last night God totally brought it right back up. I heard someone speak about having the kind of friends who literally drag us to the feet of Jesus. And about being the kind of friend who drags other people to the feet of Jesus. Because it's only in encountering God Himself that we will find healing.

In Mark 2:1-12 we hear a story of a paralyzed man whose friends literally put him on a board and carried him to the house that Jesus was in to get him healed. When they saw that the crowd was too big they straight up climbed onto the roof of the house, cut a hole in it and lowered the man down right in front of Jesus. And it says, "When Jesus saw their [emphasis mine] faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven...rise, pick up your bed, and go home.'"

This guy's friends had so much faith in Jesus to heal this man that they carried him heaven only knows how far, took him on the roof of a home, cut a hole in the roof and lowered him down to Jesus' feet. And Jesus recognized the faith of the man and of his friends. It was just that simple...

And really, that's the kind of friend I want to be. I want to hear someone's struggles and even if it's through tears want to respond by saying, "I hear you. And I hurt with you. And as much as I want to, I can't fix you. But I will take you to the feet of Jesus. I will drag you there if I have to. And I will stay with you there." Because that is what will make you well.

So, if you think that all you need is a hug...if you just need to curl up with a chick flick and eat ice cream...if you need to vent about a crazy boss or hurtful friend...if you need to escape where you are and come play in Texas...heck, if you need to escape, to run from where you are, and move to Texas, yeah, I could be your girl. I could help you with all that.

But if you need to not just be hugged but comforted...if you need to not just feel better but to actually get better...if you need to not hear lies but truth...if you need to not escape but to find your home, right in the place God has you, then I'm going to have to take you to see someone else.

And my prayer is that I'll start remembering to do that.