Just Be A Friend
Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
“You never know the hurt behind the smiles.” If you attend Immanuel Baptist Church you’ve heard our pastor say that many times. I’d like to share something that happened this past Sunday at the jail. We had a gentleman that had his Bible and seemed ready to worship. When it came time for the message he was helping the guy next to him get to the correct book. He shook his head and said amen even a few times during the preaching. Then after we was done he said he had done something really bad this past week. I told him we’ve all done things wrong and we just needed to repent and ask God to forgive us. He then preceded to tell me that he had drank a bunch of cleaner there at jail and tried to take his life. His wife had told him that she was going to leave him and he just couldn’t take it. He said he had since repented and asked God to forgive him and he couldn’t wait to get to church that morning. All I could tell him was that I was glad he got things right with God and urged him to live for God and that I’d be praying for him. Through the entire time we were there up until then you’d never know the demons this man had fought that week. It’s easy to say, but when we see it face to face we see just how real it is that we have no idea what others face. As you start a new week, just be a friend. We can tend to have blinders on and not see how much others may face. When we are so blessed we can get caught up in living our life and not realize the battles others are facing. Be a friends to others this week. We have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. A friend that’s there when we need it. Be that type of friend to someone this week. Being willing to lend an ear to listen, or a shoulder to lean or cry on could be all the difference in someone’s life this week.
God bless you today! Bro. Josh Richardson