My Best Friend

There are so many things we want at different points in our lives: that awesome nerf gun the kid down the street got for Christmas, a new basketball, a puppy dog, money for tuition, a significant other, a new car, cheaper insurance, more grandchildren, etc....Of all the things I've ever wanted, the most consistent was my desire for a best friend. I just wanted someone who I could tell EVERYTHING to; someone who understood me perfectly and accepted me, faults and all; someone who would be there to share the good times and the bad times with me; someone to hug me when I was scared and to hold me tight when I cried. I use to pray and cry, pleading with the Lord to simply give me a best friend.


I have been blessed with amazing friends throughout my life. I know that the Lord placed many of them in my life for specific reasons. Many of them have been there to comfort me through hard times, to offer much needed counsel, to help me to laugh, and to give me that much needed hug. We have had crazy adventures together, made unforgettable memories, and laughed so hard together that we cried. Lessons my friends have taught me over the years have melded together with the lessons learned from my family, all of which have shaped me into who I am today. I am sooooooo grateful for those friends, and will never forget them nor the things they have taught me and the service they've rendered.


Yet, none of them can be there for me always. I find myself crying alone sometimes. I need a hug, and no one is there. Or when something wonderful happens, I can't share with them what happened because they live far away or are busy. I love my friends with my whole heart, but they can't be there for me always, and as much as I wish I could be there for them always, I know that I can't. I don't always have the right words to say to comfort them, the advice they need, or the means to solve their problems. Part of me wishes that I did, but the other part knows that I can't take the place of the One who is truly meant to be our Best Friend.


Our Savior is the only person who has lived on this earth who perfectly understands us. He is the only one who knows our every thought and desire. He knows the darkest parts of us, the things we hide even from ourselves. He knows the immense potential we have, potential that we can't even comprehend. He knows the fruits of our labors, the lives we have touched that we aren't even aware of. He loves us perhaps more than we will ever understand. We know that He shall "wipe away all tears from [our] eyes," and was sent to "bind up the brokenhearted" (Rev. 7:17, Isa. 61:1). He loves us each so incredibly much that He gave His life for us. I am so grateful for Him and for all He has done for me, and I am soooooo grateful that He can be there for my friends and comfort them if they let Him, because only He can heal their wounds. I stopped praying for a best friend a few years ago. Now I pray that I might always be an instrument in the Lord's hands, that I might help other people come unto my Best Friend and find their best friend in Him as well.