Jesus, the most understanding friend I will ever have.

I think one of the biggest things I have to come to know about Jesus in the last 5 months is that he is the most understanding friend I will ever have. He has not at any moment come at me with judgment. It has always been kindness, understanding, compassion, even when He has said things that 'burn' just a bit. On Christmas night, I was feeling sad about a particular situation and I wanted to tell myself to get over it. You see, I 'liked' this guy these last few months. In moments of reality about the situation, I know I only liked the attention and how it made me feel in the moment. But when I'm struggling with the emptiness or loneliness, it's hard to see 'reality'. So on Christmas night, I said to Jesus, 'I know it was never about ___'. I felt him interrupt me and say, 'It's ok that right now it is. This is YOUR current reality and if you're mad and sad then be mad and sad and let's deal with it together.' I love that He understands. He validates my current feelings. My choices around this guy came out of need but He still validates what I feel at any given moment. This morning I was thinking about the situation and just heard Him say, 'Let's take what was good from it and let it be something healing. You ARE seen.' And of course part of me wants to go, 'How can any of it be good if it came out of pain and need and crap?' But what I felt Him remind me of was that He always, ALWAYS, turns things for good and for healing and for His own redemptive purposes. If we let Him, He'll do that every time.

He is full of compassion and He really does understand. That's the kind of friend I want to continue to know and be as well. Because people desperately need to be understood and heard, not judged. Struggles are struggles and they are real. Pain is pain and it is real.