Day Six | February 28

The Rock of My Relationships

We share meals with them. We share games with them. We share classes and pews and secrets with them. But do we really share life with them – with those friends who populate our lives? Or do we play it safe? Do we allow them to know only a piece of us: that safe part that we’ve polished and honed and finally gotten just right? “Don’t let them get too close,” we tell ourselves, “or else we might get hurt … or, worse, they may see behind the mask. And don’t keep them too far lest they end up walking away.”

Like a social-climbing Goldilocks, we’re looking for “just right” – that perfect balance in the dynamics of our relationships, that “sweet spot” that meets our needs without costing us a thing. But relationships that cost us nothing are only worth the price we’ve paid. In the hard times, in the tough times, in the inevitable times of pain, we find that those friendships that have been built on sand crumble and fall away.

But in Jesus and the disciples, we see a di erent way. We see a better way – friendships of the heart and of the soul. They laughed together. And they cried together. And they prayed together – in fact, the one thing they asked Jesus to teach them (of everything they could’ve asked) was how to pray. Theirs were relationships of emotional and spiritual intimacy – built upon the Rock of Jesus Christ.

And it’s amazing to remember those who He called: simple fishermen, outcast tax-collectors, doubters, and sco ers and loudmouths. His wasn’t the ‘Who’s Who’ of Palestine. His inside circle was made up of folks just like you and me: people who struggled and fought. They were “faller-downers” … and “getter-back-uppers.” Were they perfect? No. But they were following the One who was. Did they always get it right? Absolutely not. They would deny and reject and run. They would ask to spew their “brimstoned” anger upon unwelcoming villages. For as close to the Savior as they were, there was still room to grow. And the same has to be said of all of us. But at least they were honest. At least they were authentic. They were vulnerable and exposed and real. Only relationships built upon Jesus ever dare to wade into those deep waters – trusting that as the winds and waters rise, so, too, will our faith and connection of soul.