The Green Grass Gets the Water.
One of my favorite areas is Provence, France. We lived in Germany for a few years as pastor missionaries and France was just a few hours drive away for us. One 4th of July week, we traveled to see the famous lavender fields. I can’t tell you where exactly we found this very old and little monastery, but it sure is a beautiful little place.
The building was well cared for and the grounds and fields were carefully cultivated. It was absolutely breathtaking. It’s so easy to daydream of living in such a beautiful place.
The other day while scrolling through Instagram, I came across a picture of a beautiful villa with a fabulous outdoor eating area. Of course, it was “picture perfect,” right. I could totally see myself sitting there, drinking my cup of coffee and having my personal morning time with God there.
It’s easy to come across these gorgeous photos or even see fabulous places in person and think to myself, “How great it would be to live there.” Yet, I tend to forget or maybe don’t even think about all the work that goes into taking care of the grounds, let alone all the time and money. Yikes!
Then of course there’s the cleaning and regular daily maintenance. Ugh.
These pictures make me think of my relationships with people and with God. We can look at good relationships people seem to have with other people and with God... and it’s easy to “wish” we had those great relationships... yet we tend to forget that just like these fabulous properties, they take a lot of time, effort, and investment to upkeep and maintain.
My husband’s been working on an upcoming online discipleship conference and so, I was able to go to lunch with him and the key speakers the other day. These pastors are older and they’ve been friends for years and so their relationship with each other was pretty cool to watch.
One of the pastors, who was the younger, told us that it took a lot of work to build that relationship. Then speaking of another friendship he has with another pastor friend of his, he said that what it took for that relationship was for him to constantly make the calls and pursue the friendship. (That it started out as one-sided.) He had to make the investment and calls to get together etc.Today, still, he is super glad that he put in the effort.
God created us to be with people, not alone. It’s not good for any of us to be alone. Be encouraged. If your friendships with people and with God aren’t where you wish or would like them to be... put in more time and effort.
Maybe you feel that you don’t even have any friendships to speak of... don’t let that stop you or discourage you. I know someone that knows you, sees you, and loves you. If you already have a relationship with Him, awesome! The Bible tells us in John 15:13 that Jesus calls you and I friends. Jesus is your friend.
[If you don’t have this relationship with Jesus that I just mentioned, please know that He wants to be your friend more than anything else. He has been putting in time and effort and even made the most amazing investment just to be YOUR friend. His name is Jesus and his father is God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17]
Good relationships don’t happen overnight ...they take time, effort and maintenance.
The grass looks greener on the other side, because it gets the water.
Love ya,