Trust

Trust is a strange thing. Evasive.

You have to remember who your friends are. Sometimes, you have to put your trust in a friend, even when the situation is neutral. That is, not black and white, you know.
I was watching Ice Age, and it reminded me of Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, and Smeagol. As they were making their way up to the top of that cliff, Sam knew that Smeagol was going to betray Frodo. But Smeagol put on a good show. And Frodo thought that Smeagol knew best. It was so fragile, so like a teeter-totter, that when it got down to the nitty-gritty, Smeagol was able to swing things in his favor, and cause Frodo to abandon hope in Sam. Then, in the blink of an eye, Smeagol turned Frodo against Sam, blinding the truth from his eyes.
Of course, when everything is said and done, Frodo realizes who his friend was, and that he surely should have trusted Sam. Smeagol has betrayed him to the point of handing him over to a hungry spider. And Sam, loyal man that he is, is making his way back up the mountain, to save his friend Frodo. Sam realizes that Frodo was in no condition to make a good decision. At whatever cost, Sam went back up, in the hope it wasn’t too late.

Sometimes, life is like that. We need to trust our real friend, even when the situation is foggy.
So I would encourage you to take inventory of your friends. Consider which ones are real friends, and which ones are acquaintances. The ones you figure are real friends? Use them. God didn’t give us friends so that we could send them a Christmas card once a year, with a picture of our family, and a twenty-word summary of our year. That’s not friends.
God gives us friends because He knows we need them. Use your friends for all they are- and give yourself fully to them. That’s what friends are for.

I will sign off for now, Junior needs to go to sleep.