Messy Beautiful Friendship By Christine HooverSample

Day Seven

Side by Side

Scripture: Hebrews 10:25

Our faith tells us there will be a time when our friendship-longing will be fulfilled. We will be satisfied and at peace with one another, free of shaming and blaming, in right relationship with one another and with God.

And so, having seen the big picture of time, we’re tugged back to the present day as though through a small portal. What do we have now in this gift called friendship? We have the gospel, our hope of what once was and what is to come. This gospel gives us the ability, as we wait, to practice what we’ll do in perpetuity and to draw toward one another in imitation of how Christ has drawn near to us. 

May we receive our friendships as gifts from God for us—but may they not be only for us. May they be signposts, guiding any who will stop and seek directions toward what our hearts innately crave most, pointing the seeker toward a Person and a place where all longings will be longings no more. For it is only in true Christian friendship that two people who are different in every way possible—race, background, language, personality, socioeconomic level—can love like this.

Others shall know us by our love for one another. And they shall know him too. It follows, then, that friendship is worth the effort. It’s worth it to leave your wounded isolation and try again. It’s worth it to forgive a sister. It’s worth it to give your time and energy to your friendships. It’s worth it to push through the awkward. It’s worth it to love and serve and seek to understand. 

We’re not at the supper table yet, and it’s going to be a long journey to get there. By enduring with one another and bearing with one another, by being willing to walk through the gore of life and hold our friends’ fragile stories close to ourselves while simultaneously offering them hope, by receiving wounding kisses from a faithful friend, we are linking arms and journeying toward that table together. 

When we sit side by side at the supper table, we will be celebrating that we made it to our destination. We made it because of Christ, we made it with the help of our friends, and we made it together. 

How does your confidence in heaven affect your friendships today?