Messy Beautiful Friendship By Christine HooverSample

[Illustrations included in this devotional are not visible in this view. Illustrations are only supported in the Bible App for iOS, Android, and at Bible.com] Day Four Holding to the Anchor Scripture: Proverbs 27:17 Our goal is not to arrive at a linear version of friendship where we get all of our relationships lined up just so and keep them that way for a lifetime. No, the goal of friendship is to secure ourselves to the sure, steadfast anchor of Christ and, while holding to that anchor, give and receive the gift of friendship as we have opportunity. The goal is to enjoy God together with others and, as we move through life, to sharpen and allow ourselves to be sharpened by friends. We imitate Jesus with one another, willing to face the stark realities and consequences of sin, all the while persevering in our efforts to offer love, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, comfort, and care to one another. In doing so, we display to one another and the world how God loves and, through this, bring him glory. This is our destination, the point on the map we move toward: bringing God glory. We must not give up on dreams of friendship, because friendship is a good and godly desire. Yet we must be careful that our dreams align with God’s. The sense of struggle we feel in relationships, the physical and emotional separation we experience—we must recognize these feelings as a longing for the perfection and beauty of heaven. This is a beautiful desire, not something we should feel ashamed to have. But we must bring this desire to God and learn to trust and receive from him. We must, as with any good gift, hold this desire in its proper place and appreciate what he has given us right now, even if what he’s given is not necessarily what we envision. A good, biblical friendship actually brings us to that place of longing, because it brings us back around to God. Friendship begins with God because all truth begins with him and because friendship was his idea in the first place; it ends with God because biblical friendship points us back to him and stirs our anticipation of unmarred, heavenly relationships with our Father and with others. In the present, the road on our map is bumpy and broken. Enjoying the gift of friendship in the midst of bumpy and broken is what makes it distinctly Christian, however, and also distinctly and dazzlingly beautiful. How does your desire for friendship point you toward God?