The Danger in Real Friendship

Here is something I have come to believe:  

Our God is a Dangerous God.  

I used to look at scenes like these and see only Beauty--look at those clouds! Look at those colors!  Look at the Loveliness of God!

I also used to fight against the Reality of Burden in my life and the lives of my friends, thinking "This can't be from God.  God is Beautiful.  God is Good.  God is Lovely!!!!"

This weekend, however, I sat on the waterfront in Harrisburg and watched the clouds roll determined through the sky.  I felt the wind blow powerfully through my hair.  I reflected on the heavy movement of the water as my dear old friend Dorea and I discussed--with similar heaviness--those Realities of life, and I thought of what has been the theme of my past few months [but really my last 10 years]:

When we signed up to be Children of the Living God, we agreed to allow His Power to be unleashed in our lives.

What we didn't realize is that this can only mean one thing--

Get ready to be uncomfortable.

I was reminded that God has a standard, and He'll stop at nothing to make it a Reality in the lives of His children.

And as we shed some tears I thought--
Discomfort feels like DANGER!!! and causes us to flail about in despair, desperately attempting to make it go away, forgetting some very key things:

He hasn't left us alone in our journey.
And, it's a sure sign that good things are on the way.
It's a sure sign that He cares to take us out of our broken state, because a Dangerous God is a zealous God.

I thought of these things again the next day as I sat quietly with my tried and true Harrisburgian friends, a smile on my face and peace in my heart as I listened to the laughter and the banter being tossed lovingly back and forth through the air over dinner.

We are people who have walked through the Realities of life--together.

And I thought about the reality that allowing God to work His Power in your life, with the help of the people in your life, involves even more DANGER!!!!!
because it involves a nasty little word: Vulnerability.

I hate Vulnerability.

And yet.

Having people share your life means laying Vulnerability out before each other, admitting weaknesses and struggles and the burdens we bear, with honesty.

It means shedding heavy tears, with heavy hearts, for ourselves, for each other.  (Together.)




It means refusing to engage in counterfeit friendship, because it means recognizing that the Danger of Vulnerability is the only way to make a friendship Real.

And as I sat with these precious ladies over coffee and conversation this morning, I was shown yet again that the danger of vulnerability allows us opportunity to remind each other that God is as Good as He is Powerful.  As Beautiful as He is Dangerous.  And that Good, Powerful, Beautiful and Dangerous are all made of the same stuff.

So, after a heavy weekend full of beautiful moments, here is my conclusion:

The Danger in Real Friendship is that we can cry together, and encourage our hearts that we will be ok.  We can just be together, allowing for our brokenness and believing in a God who is at work in all things.

And we can laugh, smile, love--resting in the knowledge that this friendship is not counterfeit, because it is not made of nothing.

It is made of dangerous stuff, and dangerous stuff is Real.