As of late, I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit. The gift of having someone who accompanies you in life through all its ups and downs, through all the processing (mental, emotional, spiritual), through the continuous transitions that seem to be part and parcel to change, growth and maturity. Someone who understands what you say for how you mean it. Someone who will simply receive you, as you, without judgment. Someone you can always reach out to, knowing that it’s never a bother. Someone who you know will stand with you and by you, regardless of what happens. Someone who is always there for you. Always.
Those are big shoes to fill.
In fact, I don’t know if I can be that for anyone myself. That fully, that whole-heartedly, that unreservedly, that faithfully, that unconditionally. I’ve also not experienced any one person who has been all of these things for me.
It’s a true longing in our heart. We all seek it. And in the tougher moments of life, the absence of accompaniment in the way that speaks to our heart can feel magnified. These are the moments when we are reminded that only Jesus can faithfully, whole-heartedly, unconditionally, unreservedly, show up in our lives all the time. Only Jesus.
For me, probably for many of us, it’s pivoting, turning to face Him. It’s sitting with Him during moments of great sadness and suffering, leaning on His chest listening to the beating of His pierced heart. It’s allowing Him into every moment because He knows what every moment holds for us. It’s resting in His presence. It’s letting go of the thing we’re grasping so that we can hold His hand. So often we’re looking down or around and fail to see Him next to us. We develop a sort of tunnel vision and get stuck looking at the road. We fail to see His gaze of love that looks upon us so tenderly. Look up. Look into His eyes and see the person Who has been there faithfully by your side the whole of your life.
The person who is always there for you? Jesus. The person who can fill the big shoes? Jesus. The person who accompanies you throughout all the hills and valleys of life? Jesus.
All you have to do is look for Him, listen for Him and you will find Him right there by your side.
