There is Beauty Found There

Have you ever noticed that people are different? :)

I got an email from a friend I haven't talked to in a while. It was so good to hear from him. I think back to when we first met in late 2001, and how our friendship has grown since then. We haven't lived by each other in years, but he is one of those friends I can connect with, even after not talking for months. Each time it is like talking with a dear close friend.

We seem to reconnect during our difficult or big transitions in life. God gives the other person just the right words to share. It is really awesome.

The most intriguing thing about this particular friendship is how different we are. We come from totally different worlds, and have very different personalities. Yet on our most difficult days, we lean on each other. Somehow we always know just what the other needs to hear.

I think for most people, it is easy to get stuck looking for others who talk the same, have experienced the same things, think the same way, or even look the same.

It is a very boring way to live.

If we are the same, how well can we help to stretch and challenge each other? How well can we spur each other on to grow as people?

In Proverbs 27:17 it says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." 

Whenever I read this verse I think of the medieval times.

There is the blacksmith working in a smoke filled, dimly lit hut. There is a fire burning in the middle of the room. He violently thrusts the sword he is shaping into coals and flames. After the metal is red hot, he pulls the sword out, places it on the anvil, and violently beats the sword with the massive hammer. Each swing forcing the sword, now erupting with sparks and shards of metal, into the shape desired by the metal artist.

This is the picture God uses to describe the journey of relationship.

Not as boring.

I guess the main point I am wanting to make is this; if you are one of those people who are only looking to connect with people who are the same as you... Stop It.

You are missing out on the building and growing that happens when you surround yourself with people who are great at things, that you are terrible at.

Most of all, you are missing out on the picture God designed for us... iron sharpening iron isn't pretty, but what it produces is beautiful and useful.

So the next time you see someone who is quite a bit different than you, extend a hand; there is beauty found there.