Elizabeth was a member of a church. She had a good personality and was well liked especially among the youth. She was actively involved with one of the groups in church. There was no doubt that she loved the things of God.

Suddenly something went wrong. Elizabeth found herself in a relationship. Initially she shared her fears and concerns about the relationship with one or two people she respected in church. After a while however, her attendance in church began to fizzle out. Some thought it had to do with her job schedule and had no reason to worry since she was a standing member of the church. News however filtered in that Elizabeth was pregnant. All efforts to reach her proved abortive as she cut off all communication links with anyone from the church. 

Sam had a similar situation. He was also a very active member and worker in the church. He was dating a girl and the relationship went off track leading to the lady becoming pregnant. Sam opened up to his pastor. He was disciplined alright as required by God's word but is currently receiving counsel and encouragement from the church leadership in order to restore him.

What is the difference between these two people? One believed that she could not possible have any friends who would be there for her because of the situation she found herself in. She decided to build a wall round her and block any contact with people who loved her in spite of what they had heard. They were concerned about her emotional and spiritual well being but she believed that they thought the worst of her. The other person believed that only the church could give him the moral and spiritual support he needed to get back on track. He knew that no matter what went wrong, his Christian brothers and sisters were there for him and were praying for his restoration. 

God never made us to walk alone. When He created Adam, though He was satisfied with His creation but He also felt something was missing. It didn't take long for Him to know what was missing.  "The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" (Gen 2:18) This shows that we are not meant to walk alone. We need friends! The Bible also supports the fact that we need friends. 'Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.' (Prov 27:17)  I know from observing butchers, that they rub two knives together to sharpen the edge of the knives.  As children of God, we sharpen our spiritual senses when we relate, share and encourage one another.

However, for us to have faithful friends, we must first and foremost make ourselves faithful friends of others. 'A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.' (Pro 18:24) Our Lord Jesus Christ could have worked alone if He wanted to. He had the ability and the power to do anything He wanted to. But as a man, He understood the value of friendships. He talked with them, ate with them, cried with them and rejoiced with them. Jesus is indeed an example of true friendship. 

Many run away from friendships because they have been hurt and disappointed by past friends. Our perfect example, Jesus was also disappointed by His friends. They abandoned Him at His hour of need. Yet this did not discourage Him. After He was raised from the dead, He reached out to His friends and they were all witnesses to His ascension. Do you need a friend today? Pray for one and be sure that God will send you one He has prepared specially for you.

Whatever you may be going through today, you don't have to walk alone.  Friends are gifts from God. Most importantly, do not forget that the greatest friend of all is Jesus.

 Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the owner of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He lives in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org