The Unwanted Friend
As we walk through this desert together, we have made a new friend that won’t leave us alone. He persistently is in our lives every waking moment. Our journey has been challenging but now with the addition of our new friend, it can be seen as unbearable. We are constantly asking our friend to give us some space but he is relentless.
Our friend’s name is pain. Not just the coming and going kind but the constant, unbearable type that starts in the lower back and reaches over to the hip and down the leg. Every once in a while, a little relief is found and a glimmer of hope comes to the surface. Will our friend finally leave us alone? But then as if the thought is too much to ask for, the pain comes back in a vengeance.
How can this be a friend and not an enemy? Isn’t a friend someone you hold with personal regard or affection? Isn’t a friend someone who gives assistance and support? What type of help can we be receiving from this unwanted intruder? Could it be a new perspective of life that only our pain can give us? Could God be using this friend to help us desperately seek him? To humble us to our knees and keep us constantly aware of his presence?
I have heard people say that we don’t leave God when we are facing adversity. But people tend to place him on a shelf when they are in the midst of prosperity. If this is true, maybe our friend has a new name? Could his name be God’s sovereignty in our life? If so, let us be thankful for his desire to draw us close to him, even if we have to share it with our unwanted friend.