Standing With You

I have a precious, sweet sister in the Lord, whom I love dearly.

We have been friends for years and have been through many life-changing events together.

I treasure our friendship and the ability to pick up where we left off, despite the time that may have passed.

My heart breaks for my precious friend as I watch from the outside, her attempt to hold her marriage together.

Seemingly alone.

I picture her, much like the woman with the issue of blood, deciding that she’s going to grab the hem of his garment and not let go, until she is healed.

I see her tenacity to hold on, even when she is tired, for she knows Whose hands can bring redemption.

I listen to hear heart-felt cries and fight back tears of my own.

I want nothing more than to join the world, which would easily tell her to go. It’s only fair. She doesn’t deserve this.

And yet I can’t.

I rack my brain of things to say.

God, what do I tell her?

And then I realize, there is nothing that I can say that will change her situation.

There is only that which I can do.

I can show her that a friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17

I can keep my opinions and frustration to myself and simply rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15

I can rally around her in prayer. Reminding her that “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer . . . .” 1 Peter 3:12

And as hard as it may be, as much as I want to shield her from the pain, I can lovingly remind her “. . . though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter: 1:6-7

If God is to be glorified in this situation, I must refrain from the message the world speaks.

Maybe you, have a friend who is in a similar situation. I encourage you to right now lift your friend up in prayer. Take her name to the throne of God asking for God’s mercy to fill her in her lack.

Maybe, my dear friend, you are this woman. Feeling alone and trying desperately to drown out the voice of the world, while clinging on to the hem of his garment, waiting for your healing. Waiting for your redemptive story.

My dear sister, let me leave you with this “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” James 5:7-8

Be patient. Stand firm. He is near.

Standing with you,

Barb