Friends

I talked to an old friend tonight.  I use the word old because he, like myself, is old.  While I am a little closer to eighty, he is only a couple of years behind.  We were both licensed as ham radio operators while teenagers which also speaks of how we knew each other before we both ended up at Young Harris College.  There were between then and now years of not staying in touch with one another, but the last years have brought us back into a friendship richer than the one with which we started,  In more ways than I can count, he has been a steadfast friend who has made a significant difference in my living.   

It is amazing how God brings us into relationships we could not have imagined.  Life is just not some haphazardly walk through a maze.  If the Scripture speaks truth when it says that God has a plan for each of us, it surely means that the people who touch our lives for good are a part of the way He works out that plan in our lives.  The other day while reading that worn out story in Ezekiel about the valley of dry bones, it dawned on me that God could have spoken directly to those dry bones and given them life, but instead, He shared His intent with Ezekiel and called him to speak and make a difference in His behalf.  

I once heard it said that God does nothing that He does not do through one of us.  While I am not ready to limit the way God works, it does seem that He is partial to using each one of us to do the work of His Kingdom.  I am convinced that God has used my old friend to keep me closer to the heart of Christ which makes me wonder if my life has had a similar effect on others.  I pray that when the dust has settled over my life, there will be a few who remember me as a helper to them on their journey.  Such is what we do for each other as friends and companions along the holy way.