Daily Delight

I am rather ashamed to admit that there was a season in my life when I was really closed off to new deep friendships. Not because I am shy or unfriendly, but because I had a really tight-knit group of inner circle friends and I mistakenly thought that I didn’t have room in my heart for more close friends.Then, all of a sudden, my closest best friend was 4 hours away and the other two were 10 hours away. Now, I’ve never been allergic to a road trip or a long phone call, but I really missed having a friend that I could see on a regular basis that I could trust with my heart. I tried forging this type of friendship with a few other gals, but it just never quite fit, ya know. Like a shoe that went on my foot but it didn’t feel like coming home. So then, lo and behold, I started to do this super brilliant thing and started to pray for some new friends, the God kind of iron sharpening iron kind of friends.And wouldn’t you know that God gave me not one, but two more! One across the pasture from my house, and one 7 hours away.I would be lying if I told you that these friendships magically turned deep and meaningful overnight. They didn’t. It’s hard to make old friends. It doesn’t happen overnight. It might take some awkward “hey do you want to hang out” texts and calls. They are going to have to see your less than spotless house. You will need to let down your Instagram perfect guard. But can I also promise something else? It is worth it to cultivate God-ordained friendships.Yes, it might be hard. Yes, you will probably all hurt each other’s feelings a little bit. But we need iron sharpening iron kind of friends if we are going to grow. There is irreplaceable growth that happens in the company of other imperfect saints. We need each other.

“Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.” -Proverbs 27:9 (TPT)

About the Author

Faith Hanan

Faith Hanan is a fierce and fun-loving Jesus follower passionate about seeing Christians live wild and free. She and her husband, Nate, started thewildandfree.org where they help people live passionately and healthy while pursuing their God-given purpose.Faith is always down for a good cup of coffee and heart-to-heart or dance party. In addition to writing, leading worship, and raising a tiny human, Faith loves to compete in barrel races, hike, camp, workout, play in the dirt, and dabble in professional photography (and did we mention, NOT cook).You can connect with Faith and her shenanigans on Instagram here and at www.thewildandfree.org.