I’ve been fortunate over the course of my life to have found some really good friends. People who have been there for me during the good times and bad.
Several years ago, I was reminded of just how important such friends are.
I was involved in a small group at church, where about 5 of us got together twice a month to talk about God, share what was going on in our lives, and pray. And it was a pretty tough time for many of us.
The company I was working for went through bankruptcy, and I was unemployed, another person was having girlfriend problems, another was breaking up with his fiancee, and another had just found out his wife had cancer.
Needless to say, we were all in need of friendship at that time, and those friendships helped pull us through our difficulties.
Solomon writes about such friendships saying,
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)
And again,
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)
When I was in high school, my father told me, “I know you’re shy, but you really need to make some friends, close friends that you can really talk to. You don’t need a lot of close friends, but you should have at least one.”
At the time he said this, I did have friends, but none that I could really open up myself to. And his words really struck home with me.
By God’s grace, I was able to find some very good ones shortly thereafter that really helped shape me throughout my high school and college years.
I suppose the question we need to ask ourselves is two-fold.
First, do we have those kinds of friends?
And second, what kind of friends are we?
Are we friends that are bred for helping others through adversity, or do we run at the first sign of trouble?
In chapter 19, Solomon writes of such “friends.”
Wealth brings many friends, but a poor man’s friend deserts him. (Proverbs 19:4)
And in verse 7,
A poor man is shunned by all his relatives — how much more do his friends avoid him!
Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.
How about you? When your friends are in need, whether physically or emotionally, do you disappear? Or are you there for them?
This is not to say that we are to bail our friends out of every financial trouble they find themselves in. But we should do everything we can to help them overcome their troubles and stand once again.
Are you a fair-weathered friend? Or a true one?
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 