The Only Constant

My dad, a principal at an elementary school, told me recently that many times parents will call him and tell him that their child is upset because he/she does not have any friends at school. My dad then goes and watches them interact with the other kids - and they will be playing on the playground, having a great time. Often, he then suggests to the parents to take the opportunity to talk to their kid about Jesus. How does this connect? Because the loneliness they feel is not because they don't have friends - it is because God is drawing them, and it makes them need Someone/Something beyond the people/friends they are around.

When my dad told me this, it quickened something in me, because I feel the same thing. Sometimes I feel it, and I frantically search for someone to hang out with, or I go through a list of my friends and make myself better because I realize I do have some, or a multitude of other remedies to soothe the loneliness. But I realize time after time, it doesn't suffice.

A.W. Tozer puts it like this: "The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be
denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they
will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely
feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all
delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it
purely, legitimately and forever."

For me, many of my treasures are people. And the more I try to hold on, the more inaccessible my relationships seem. But strangely, the more I seek God, the closer I get to people.

I feel like everything in my life right now is pointing to this truth. I am trying to figure out what to do next year with my life/ where to move/ who to be with/ etc. And it is stressful, until I realize that Jesus, as my Friend, will be with me. He is with me now, and He will be with me wherever I am - the only constant. Many of my friends are moving/have moved away, and that's hard, but if I let go, and trust Him with my relationships, I'm ok.

When we are misunderstood, betrayed, hurt, lied to, lonely, scared, etc. etc. , it is, in many ways, Jesus drawing us. And as we come, it is not an end, but an "inception", as Tozer calls it. A beginning. A friendship. And the cool thing about friendship with God, is that He does not just make us feel better. He creates, he renews, he strengthens. He gives purpose, and life, and the ability to give that to other people. He opens doors, gives us dreams, and brings them about.

I have in no way mastered this, and many times for various reasons, I don't choose Him. But I am learning how He calls, and learning to respond. And I will mess up, but He is more faithful than anyone we will ever know. It is a process, as is everything, but He is committed to us. And as we learn to walk with Him, he will make everything else we have, and everyone else we know, all the more enjoyable, because our hearts are not dependent on them, but only on Him, for whom we were created.


Psalm 73:28 "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good..."