SPIRITUAL FRIENDS

God has given us spiritual friends to accompany us on our journey to recovery. These friends teach us how to draw close to God and to seek Him in all we do so that we may experience God’s joy and peace for ourselves.

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.  (Proverbs 17:17 NLT)

Jonathan and David are an example from the Bible of a selfless caring friendship. Jonathan was the son of King Saul. King Saul was jealous of David’s military achievements, hated David, and tried to kill him.  God chose David to succeed Saul as King of Israel and protected Him from Saul’s death threats. 

Jonathan, as King Saul’s son, would have inherited the throne of Israel.  One would expect Jonathan to be bitter and resentful at being disinherited by David.  However, Jonathan honoured the plan of God for David's life and helped David escape from his father’s attacks.  When Jonathan and Saul were both killed in battle, David became king. Instead of killing all the family of the previous king, as was the custom, David honoured his friendship with Jonathan by taking Jonathan’s crippled son into his palace and allowing him to eat at his table.

As we attend meetings and church fellowships, we will get to know those who, like us, are seeking to walk with God.  We need to keep our eyes open for spiritual people whom God may have prepared for us to build caring friendships with.  We can then support and look out for each other just as David and Jonathan did. Some of the people we meet might seem the least likely to be such friends because they come from different backgrounds than ours, but God’s plan for us will be perfect and may surprise us. Let’s ask God today to help us recognize and form friendships that He determines are best for us.

The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else.  (Proverbs 11:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT)

Prayer:  Loving God. Thank You for my family and friends and especially for those You have given me to guide me on my recovery journey.  Help me to recognize those individuals to whom I can offer support and perhaps become a friend who will help them on their recovery journey with You. Amen