A Reason, a Season, a Lifetime
It’s been said that, “People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” As the Christmas season gives way to Valentine’s Day and Lent approaches, how do we relate to our friends?
During this season, new people bump into our lives, some of them for a specific reason. Usually the reason doesn’t become clear immediately, perhaps only in the rear-view mirror of time. Often only the Lord knows the reason he puts them within our circle of influence.
So pray about the new people in your life. Ask the Lord to guide you in sorting out where they belong in your life—whether it is a neighbor you don’t really know, a co-worker you tolerate, or a newcomer to a ministry where you serve.
As our extended family, friends deserve our time, attention and love by virtue of our relationships. And like our family, some of them are attracted to us for a reason, such as their need or ours to rejoice or cry together, to support each other spiritually or emotionally. Some are intimately involved in our life for a season, such as in a pastoral relationship, ministry, carpool or career.
Some grow dearer to us than family and we find we need their friendship for a lifetime. They may grow in number each year as we recognize our need to hold them close in our hearts. When we see them or talk to them, after a month or a year apart, no barriers exist to intimate sharing. As we worship and pray, work and play together in the new year, wherever the Lord may take us, may we draw ever nearer to him and thus to one another — for a lifetime and into eternity.
What new and old relationships need nurturing, and a special place in your life in the coming season?
