I suppose more songs have been written on the subject of God being our friend than on any other topic. We sing the old song, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and we do well to sing it; for He is a true friend in whom we may trust — loyal and unfailing.
But how about the Father? What is His attitude toward us? Is He also our friend, if we are His faithful children? Jesus is so much like the Father that He said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The Father’s attitude toward us is just as friendly as Christ’s. In fact, it was the Father’s love that sent Jesus to this world and made Him our Redeemer and friend. We are on safe ground when we say God is our friend.
Do we always act as if we believe God is our friend? Some people are afraid of Him — afraid of what He will do, afraid of His attitude. There is a reverential fear we should have; but I speak of the kind that drives us from God rather than to Him. This fear makes us hesitant to be open with Him; in fact, we often do not treat Him as if He is our friend.
Since God is our friend, we should act toward Him as we do toward friends. We trust our friends, rely on them, have confidence in them. The closer the relationship, the more open we are. We are sure of them. We do not question their loyalty. We feel free to approach them at any time and on any subject. We enjoy their company. We are drawn together by mutual confidence and esteem.
True friendship with God will bring the same results.
We confide in our friends. We feel free to tell them things we would not tell others. We seek their company in trouble and their comfort in sorrow. We tell them our problems. Do we act the same toward God? If He is really our friend, we ought to be just as free to confide in Him as we are with any trusted friend. But do we?
Another mark of friendship is trusting what our friends say. We rely on their integrity and sincerity. When they tell us something, we believe it. If we question their word, something is lacking in the friendship; a precious element is absent. Do we believe what God says as surely as we believe our friends? We read the Bible and see many great and precious promises. Do we accept them as unquestionably as we do the words of our nearest and dearest friends? Or do we trust human words more than God’s Word?
Do we think we have friends truer than our divine Friend? If so, we are missing something vital — something at the heart of friendship, something that makes it rich and blessed, that makes communion satisfying and fellowship sweet.
We are free in our relationships with friends. We act toward them in ways we wouldn’t toward strangers, because we know they understand. We can open our hearts to them without fear of offense. We can be frank and natural.
That is how God wants us to be with Him. If we place His friendship on the same level as our best human friendships, those earthly friendships will not be closer than our relationship with Him. Our conduct toward God will be as free and unconstrained as with friends we trust completely.
What is our attitude toward God? When we are in trouble, do we shrink from Him? Do we hide our burdens? When we need someone to understand, do we take the matter to God — yet feel reluctant? If so, we do not count Him our friend as we should. We are either holding something back or failing to accept what He offers. We ought to be freer in our relationship with God. We ought to trust Him more fully, confide in Him more openly, believe His Word more confidently than we do any human friend.
He is truly our friend. Let us hold an attitude toward Him that brings out the fullness of this friendship and makes us partakers of His richness. Let us be whole-hearted friends toward God, and He will be a whole-hearted friend toward us. Then there can be intimate understanding, blessed fellowship, and sweet communion that enrich our lives and fill them with the blessedness of the spiritual realities God would have us enjoy in this life.
Charles Wesley Naylor is considered one of the most prolific and inspiring songwriters of the Church of God. He was bedridden for much of his adult life but wrote eight books, a newspaper column and more than 150 songs. Many of his writings are in the public domain.
