Anytime I find myself with no electricity—no working AC or hairdryer or microwave or fridge—I call that a catastrophic event. Some other people call that “camping.” Same thing, right?
My friends—many of you—know that I’m an extremely indoorsy kind of gal. My spirit animal is a Snuggie.
Someone once told me that enjoying the outdoors is really about having the right tools. Like maybe a Swiss Army knife. I should make it clear here that if a Swiss Army knife would ever be wasted on anyone, it would be wasted on me. First of all, I’ve never—even in the remotest capacity—served in the Swiss Army. I do like their chocolate. Also their cheese. But the value of the knife with too many gadgets is lost on me. And secondly, unless it has a spa tool or a day-at-the-mall attachment, I’m not even interested.
If I’m ever forced into an electricity-less situation, however, I do hope I have someone with me who understands all the gazillions of Swiss Army knife functions. Someone who, unlike me, could be outside for more than an hour without…dying. In my thinking, it’s important to hang with people who can kill a bear for me if the need arises. …While I stand by watching. …In my Snuggie.
It’s vital in this walk of faith to have godly people we can come alongside. Bear-slayers, as it were. It’s true that people can be work. They can be messy. Difficult. They can require about every tool in the knife. But just as surely as they are challenging, they are oh so needed. From the very beginning it was clear that our God didn’t design us to go it alone.
I have to ask myself often if I’m working on friendships in the right directions. Am I energetically endeavoring to reach out to people? Am I actively offering friendship? I’m most often compelled to answer those questions with action. It requires a willingness to step outside my comfort zone and step into servanthood. Sometimes it even requires me to take off the Snuggie and set off into the woods. Nothing strengthens my prayer life more.
The good news is that the Lord never asks me to go there alone. There are great Army-knife-type tools in God’s Word for keeping healthy friendships, yes. But even more, He grants His presence. His own Spirit. He can love others through me in ways I can’t begin to on my own, all by and through the power of His Spirit.
At the same time, I’m blessed in friendships that honor Him. “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken,” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, HCSB.
That passage may sound a little like camping to you. To me, it sounds like sharing a Snuggie. Because a blanket of four sleeves is not easily broken either.