There are few things more cherished
in a life than a true friend. A friend that will always stand beside you, will always
believe the best for you and will embrace you during your darkest times. The bible says, “A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs
17:17). “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend
who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs
18:24). I prayed to God for such a friend.
God answered my prayers, and gave me my dearest companion Cathie
Lichtenberger.
The definition of friend is
somebody who you can trust and are fond of, an ally, a defender or supporter or
an advocate (Encarta Dictionary). Our
pastor not too long ago defined friend as someone you could call at 2am in the
morning needing help with a flat tire.
Cathie is that friend to me.
In 2006, I had a company for mothers. Each month I would pick a “Mom of the Month”
and highlight her life, family and goals.
Out of forty thousand moms registered on my web site, I choose Cathie
Lichtenberger. We exchanged email
addresses never fully comprehending the plan God had designed for each of
us. As our emails grew more frequent, we
finally began phone conversations, realizing how much each of us loved the
Lord. By the end of December 2006, we
were communicating weekly for she lived in San Antonio,
TX and me in Plantation, FL.
Although we have the Gulf of Mexico between the two of us, a few states and
miles, our lines of communication have been open from daily to weekly and at
times hourly. God has given us the grace
to meet once in seven years. Between our
families and tight budgets, we were never able to fit a weekend anywhere
together. She has been an encourager to me, strengthening me to rise higher and
achieve God’s plan for my life. A friend
is someone who challenges you.
Challenges you to come up higher, to keep going when the trials hit home
and prays with you in those darkest hours.
There have been phone conversations where nothing but tears could be
heard. Quiet sobs from the two of us and
praying to keep the faith while our husbands had seem to stray off God’s path,
we have relied on each other these years.
When the angel told Mary her cousin
Elizabeth was going to have a baby, just as she was pregnant with the seed of
the Messiah, the two were a comfort to each other. Elizabeth
had been in seclusion for five months, but her little one jumped in the womb
when confronted with the Lord of Lord’s in Mary. The two, quietly pondered the working of the
Holy Spirit, together praising, worshiping and giving thanks to God. I’m sure the two women exchanged stories into
the wee hours of the morning. Each in
wonder with the other, encouraged by each other’s testimony and bringing
comfort for the unknown creeping into their thoughts.
I spend
many years desiring friends from the Lord.
After several acquaintances, and some people who were not what I
expected, I gave the situation to God and said, “Lord, pick the friends you
desire me to have.” I have phoned, texted, emailed Cathie an
a thousand times telling her how much I love our friendship,
how much she means to me and how thankful I am to God for the friendship he
brought together.
Just as Elizabeth and Mary, Cathie
and I spend time alone with the Lord. Elizabeth’s seclusion may
have been of wonder, testing, listening for the Lord’s plan, worshiping and
amazement. The angel told Mary her
cousin was pregnant; Elizabeth
never sent word to Christ’s mother, meaning, God wanted these two women
together for a time. He ordained it,
orchestrated it and was pleased to tell Mary about the birth of John the
Baptist.
I do not find it odd God separated Elizabeth for a
season. Mark 1:35, the Gospel reads, “Very early in the morning, while it
was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to solitary places,
where he prayed.” Luke 6:12
describes, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and
spent the night praying to God.” Matthew the tax collector in his Gospel
writes, “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself
to pray.” (Matthew 14:23). The good
doctor also scribes, “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that
crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and
prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16). I believe during this pregnancy, by divine
intervention, Elizabeth
withdrew by the spirit to listen for the Word of God. She withdrew to ponder, meditate on the
wonder that was occurring, what it means for God’s people and the purpose she
was to fulfill as a mother. At the
perfect time, the angel came to Mary and revealed the Lord’s intention. The two
were intended to be together, Elizabeth
withdrawn and powerfully in prayer, could encourage this young girl and support
her with prayer and praise.
When God births something, you know it will be
special. As you read this, a friend may
come to mind and you smile giving thanks for that particular person. As you read this, you may be as I was,
friendless and desiring a close companion.
I encourage you to lay it at the cross.
Lay your desire for a true friend, a friend who loves the Lord as you,
one who will encourage, challenge and inspire you to rise higher. A friend whom you can confide, knowing your
past or deepest thoughts are protected and in safe hands. The Lord will give
you someone to fast and pray with, someone who will admonish you when needed
and you will not feel the wound for Proverbs
27:6 encourages, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, by an enemy
multiplies kisses.” I have several
companions, but I would never trust some of my deepest thoughts or problems
with them. God has given me Cathie for
that. I believe in her godly wisdom,
discretion and integrity. She would
never hold anything back and withdraw the Truth. I trust Cathie will tell me
not what I want to hear, but want I need to hear and there is a difference.
There are times these friends may
be closer to you than your own family.
The bible is very intuitive to this, as moving farther down in Proverbs,
the Bible reads, “Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father and
do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you, better a neighbor
nearby than a brother far away.” (Proverbs
27:10). There are thoughts and dreams I believe God planted in my spirit
that only Cathie knows. Dreams I have of
doing something great for him and his kingdom.
Dreams of making disciples of women, spreading the Gospel and fulfilling
the purpose God has for me. I have not
told these to my family, not because I do not love them or are not close, but
Cathie as been given the same desire and dreams. We mutually share, encourage and pray for one
another. God did not send Mary to her
mother, sisters or anyone one who may be discouraging to her, but to the very
person who also had a seed of hope planted in her. We are not to tell “everyone” what the Lord
plants in our hearts, for please, let us not forget Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 37). Not everyone, including your family, may
understand your Christian walk or the desires of your heart. Christ experienced this when Mary and his
brothers tried to deter him from his calling (Mark 3:31). Abraham was asked to leave his family and travel to
where the Lord would show him (Genesis
12:1).
I encourage you sister in quest to find this
friend; and it is a quest, almost like a treasure hunt. To find a person who is willing to selflessly
give, to selflessly pray and fast for you, to selflessly desire your plan and
purpose because this friend loves you, is challenging, rare and at times, only
given by the Lord. Continue your
prayers, continue in your worship, seeking the Lord’s desires of the friends he
wishes you to have. Do not cast off
someone so quickly, someone from a different social class, someone from a
different race or culture for this may very well be the person God is sending
to you. Let us lay it at the cross and
give the desires of your heart to the Lord.
Let us pray and
CONFESS the Word of God:
Abba Father,
I come to
you in thanksgiving for my friendships.
I come to you in praise, my heart overwhelming for the friends you have
given me. I am thankful for their love,
I am thankful for their truth, I am thankful for their confidence, and I am
thankful they are Christians who encourage and challenge me. If you are opening the door for more or
different friends, I trust you completely.
I know you will provide someone who will love me, inspire and encourage
me along my way. I believe you will give
me a friend who will fast and pray during my own challenges as I will to her as
she may need a friend stand in the gap for her.
I pray for
the wisdom and discernment of who to invite into my life and who to remain
acquaintances with. I pray as Elizabeth and Mary praised
and worshiped, that I too can experience a friendship devoted to praise and
worship. Lord, I know you desire the
best for my life; help me to seek the spirit of another believer, for spirit
speaks to spirit and world speaks to world.
Help me never to judge quickly or cast aside another without prayer, for
this may be the very person you are giving me.
Show me how
I can be a blessing to those you have entrusted me with. Show me how to encourage more, to serve them
more and to love more. Help me to
selflessly give of myself to the friends you have given me, truly expressing my
love for them. If I have not been a
faithful friends or need to be taught how to be a Christian friend, then I pray
for the season of to go in “lonely and desolate” places as Christ, to
understand what a true friend is, and what the Bible says about service. I pray
to be a friend of yours as you called Moses, a woman after your own heart. I pray if I have hurt another friend, you will
bring reconciliation to that friendship.
If I have slandered, gossiped, hurt, joked or mislead another friend, I
pray you will fill their hearts with the forgiveness only you can give. I pray to be a trustworthy friend, a godly
Christian woman, an example of Christ and encouraging to those around me, for I
desire to be more like you. In the name
of Jesus of Nazareth I pray, Amen.
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