Camaraderie.

I am so thankful to the Lord and how faithful He is.
I have been so happy these last few days! Practically giddy,
and the only thing I can pin it on is the Lord.
Only He satisfies like this.
When He says, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you," He lives up to it.
Always there, Unfailing Love...

... but when it comes to people, believing in their faithfulness tends to be a gamble.

I keep chewing on these few verses in Job chapter 6 because- although I have NO sense of just how much Job suffered in physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual pain- I can at least relate to him for three verses:

"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,
as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
but that cease to flow in the dry season and in the heat vanish from their channels."
-Job 6:14-17

I have lots of friends and love them, probably more than they realize.
Having friends was never the easiest thing growing up,
maybe you can relate.

Year after year, through adolescence, I most eagerly put my heart in my palms and held it out for all to know.
And then you discover, year after year,
that nobody knows how to handle the human heart.

We all have one!
Yet that seems to make it more complicated, not less.

Then, come the people who undo the tangles.
They break down the barriers you built over the years
and pour forth sunshine.

Even then, sometimes sunshine comes with rain.

What I have found is, those who say, "I promise" or flattering, loving words are the first to forget what any of it means.
And those who say nothing, promise nothing, but still show up are the ones who endure.

Why do we do this to each other?
We already know what the remedy is... each other!
Give and take.
We make it seem like such a burden, such an undertaking, as if our journey goes beyond the mile.
Not a mile is our journey, but half.

Oh, and life.
Life usually does not make it easier, but harder to try.
Each life walks its own road, winding farther and closer and farther again
to roads once new, now familiar, seldom intersecting.

But the thing about life is,
comparing it to a road is not eternally precise.
Every man is a compilation of his or her preference.

And though burdens once shared seem parlous at first,
the strength of four hands, exceed that of a pair.

♥

Father, thank you that I am so satisfied in You.
All things that happen around or even to me do not define me.
You bring contentment that runs deep.
Though flesh and heart may fail, You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Bless the LORD, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.