Why in the world am I so slow in eating? I asked myself all the time. My college friends got tired of waiting for me. Today, my friends get restless as they wait beyond the time they finished their own meal.
But God sent me a loving friend who sits, chats and never complains as I eat my last bite.
We all need friends like that, especially when we’re at the table of sorrow. Have you ever been there, trying to digest the pain of the moment with no friends around? Fighting self-pity, we look up and see the mountaintops where others walk. We observe the joy that fills others’ lives and we wonder, when is it our turn?
And when we ask that, our circumstance looks worse.
We long for that someone to come. We desire the company of that special someone. The person God will send who will stay with us to the end.
Is there such a person? While we look and look, and no answers come, the pain deepens. Secretly, we keep hoping to have someone around to mend our broken heart. To hold us when the silence of the night is deafening. But reality barges in—friends are too busy with their own lives. They can’t be with us or around us.
“The Lord, He goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Do not fear, nor be dismayed” (Deut. 31:8).
His Promise
His promise is that He goes ahead of us, paving the way, preparing the outcome and putting all the pieces together.
In expectation for that to happen, can we believe He’s telling us not to give up; not to give in to discouragement? Is He speaking to us when He says, “For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to death” (Ps. 48:14).
Till the end. Not only while we read inspirational messages. Or only while we’re in prayer, or seated in a church pew, but when, in the privacy of our disappointment, sad moments invade our heart. When our tears soak our pillow. That’s when, though we may be unaware, every minute, every second, the friend of all friends—Jesus’ hands are around our pain, His voice whispering into our cries and His promise echoing through our emptiness.
Let’s Pray
Father, I confess my impatience in the waiting. Grant me the peace I need to expect the best from You, my best friend, to focus on the blessing and to take each step in anticipation of great things to come. In Jesus’ name, amen.
What friend can you count on till the end? {eoa}
Janet Perez Eckles is an international speaker and the author of four books. She has helped thousands conquer fear and bring back joy.
This article originally appeared at janetperezeckles.com.
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett