Sunday Morning

"...Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5

Sometimes I feel a little sad when I think of friends who just a short time ago were very close to me but now I rarely if ever (in most cases never) hear from them.  

I've heard it said that people come into your life for a reason, for a season, or for a lifetime.  In my 57 years upon this earth I have definitely seen this happen in my own life many, many times.

  

When someone is in your life for a reason, they are usually there to meet some sort of need that you have.  You might be going through an experience that this same person has successfully gone through & they are brought into your life to show you the way through it.  You might just need a sympathetic ear to listen to you talk about a disappointment you are dealing with & this person is brought into your life to do just that.  You may be searching for the meaning in something going on in your life & this person is brought into your life to help you find it.   Perhaps you are searching for some kind of answer & God sends this person into your life to give it to you.  These people appear in your life as if they are a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.  They listen to you, they help you, they are there for you ... & then suddenly they are gone.  You can't quite put your finger on what happened but what happened is this ... they have completed their job.  They were there for you when you needed them & now they are no longer needed.  They have gone on to help someone else.  Sometimes it hurts to lose them but they have been, in effect, an angel that God has sent your way to help you along the path of life.  If you look back over the years you might even see where God has used you in this same way.  He has brought you into someone else's life for just a very short time ... just for a particular reason ... & then He drew you down another path.     

Then there are the people who come into your life for a season.  I must admit that these people are difficult for me to understand.  I have (had) one friend in particular who I think fits in this category.  We met & clicked immediately.  We had many things in common, laughed together until our stomachs hurt, exchanged lengthy emails every day & called each other on the phone.  Then suddenly some things occurred in her life that really shouldn't have gotten in the way of our friendship but it seems as though they did.  First my emails weren't answered for days ... then weeks.  Then I'd get an email from her asking how I've been doing & explaining that she has been oh-so busy with various things ... yet she would often post on Facebook that she was having a "boring day," that she had "nothing to do," etc.  When I would answer her email to tell her how I've been doing, I wouldn't hear from her again for several weeks.  This was really hurting me for a while but then I realized she was apparently in my life just for a season.  When I look back in my life I can see other people who were also just "seasonal friends."  They were all a special part of my life but they are gone & when I realized they were gone it was very painful.  I wonder about them from time to time ... what has happened in their lives.  I hope they are all doing well.  

Then there are the people who are in your life for a lifetime.  There people perhaps baffle me most of all.  I am a pretty good person but I have gone through some things in my life that have caused me to be at one time or another rather ... oh goodness, what word shall I use ... "difficult?"  I've had some pretty lousy things happen to me in the past which have pushed me into such deep depression that I just could not see the good in anything.  Some of my poor friends just couldn't take dealing with me anymore & ran quickly away from me during those times & I can't say I blame them.  However, I have friends who were always there for me & still are.  They listened to me complain & moan & cry & ramble on & on ... talking nonsense really because I couldn't see things clearly.  Things I suppose I needed to do in order to get through the hellishness of those times.  There were occasions during these times when I was not even very nice to these people ... but they are still here!  They stood by me & loved me & did what they could to help me even though they may have been having problems in their own lives.  Oh how I treasure them!  They are priceless! 

I suppose when all is said & done every friend who comes into our life is precious in some way be they there for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  Still, it always hurts when you lose a friend.  This is why I chose the quote I chose today.  God tells us He will never leave us or forsake us.  How wonderful is that!