S05E022, The Power of Friends, Andy B 2 Minute Video
“You’ve got a friend in me” so the lyrics go from a song used in Toy Story. Wonder if you’re singing the rest of that song right now, or humming it and annoying your colleagues?
We are made to be with other people. God designed us to function in community – not isolation or solitude. He made us so we work best when we depend upon other people. That corporate effort is what can make the world sing, or scream. That depends on the other people…or does it? I’ll let you ponder that one on your own!
As a family we’ve been through all sorts of times in life, but while we have been forced to face some things alone, having people to support and help is always wonderful.
We are, each one of us, utterly unique. We all have different skills and gifts and talents that we can bring to bear to the people around us. We’ve been blessed with some super lovely people over the years. But are you the sort of person that other people want to help, or not?
It’s perfectly possible to reject help without knowing it. And that can be super upsetting for willing hands and hearts.
So, let people help you! Who knows what might develop from you accepting help and letting your own inability, or even vulnerability, show? But, and perhaps even more importantly – asking for help from others can let a little sunshine in to you own life, and their life too!
Don’t ever be afraid to say you can’t help if you can’t!
One minister had to put off moving into their new manse after some helpful church members did far more harm than good through willing hands that really shouldn’t have been let loose near a paint brush: if you don’t know a hammer from a paintbrush, perhaps stick to making tea instead.
However, if you’re a professionally trained driver – like I am – then volunteering to drive the van for some people moving house will not tax you in the slightest, but could mean the world to them. It’s quite fun driving a baby truck if you’re more used to dealing with abnormal loads and driving 44 tonne trucks!
We all have skills, whether that’s making cups of tea, cheering people on, driving a van or plumbing in a washing machine. Let your skills help others – that’s exactly what Jesus did and look at what He managed to do!
And never be afraid to say no if you really can’t add value: people in distress don’t want willing people, but skilled people.
Just a thought...
Andy B
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Transcript
0:06
So, another Andy B 2 Minute Video.
0:09
Now, I've titled this one the power of friends and I just wanted to share a few people in our lives who have, they've made a real difference. And why do I want want to share this? Well Jesus had 12 disciples. He had this kind of inner circle of closer disciples if you like. And then there were other supporters. And as you kept moving further and further away from Jesus, you have sort of different levels of support for Him and for what He did, and different levels of interest.
0:33
I just wanted to mention a few people that have been really good friends to us. And I want to encourage you, if you don't have friends, like we've got like these guys, pray for it! We did for a long time, we've moved around the country far more than we ever wanted to. That's just the vagaries of employment, and unemployment, and COVID, and housing, and all the rest of it. But we've got some really good friends who pick us up in different ways. And they all mean slightly different things to us in different contexts. They're doing different things.
0:56
But I wanted to mention Alan, who's a lovely, older, chap from Scotland. He writes an amazing blog, and he's a really good encourager. He just lifts us up. And he's really good at his biblical truths.
1:08
I want to mention Olli, from Nigeria, who's great. We just chat every day, and he does missions work. And I pray for him. And he prays for us. And he's great 'cos he really lays down the Bible when I need to hear some hard truths about Scripture.
1:21
And then there's Mary, who's in the USA. A brilliant friend. A family friend. She's always on tap. We need some prayer, right, off, she's praying. And we've seen some amazing miracles through those prayers.
1:33
We've got some great friends in this life!
1:35
There's Andy, another Andy, from Essex in the UK. He's great. If I've got a problem and I can't work it out I just throw my ideas at him. and he's great. He's like a sounding board, and they bounce back. And there's many more people than that.
1:48
These are really close friends to us. Why? Because they're in our lives every day. What does that mean? Well, it means they're there to help us, and to encourage us, and we encourage and help them. It's nice when you've got relationships where text messages are flying both ways. And these people, they're really precious to us. Because, what they do, is they encourage us and they uplift us.
2:06
Have you got people like that in your life? It's easy to ask that question. We didn't have for quite a few years. We were travelling, and doing ministry and stuff, and we really missed the value of friendships, because everyone felt quite distant. We're so blessed by these people! And more than that, as well.
2:21
If you haven't got people like that, that you feel can lift you up and, and encourage you, who you can't be honest with, an I urge you to pray for that with God? God's answered our prayers and given us these wonderful people and many more. That's just a handful. But these people are important because they encourage us in our faith.They build us up as we build them.
2:40
If you haven't got that, pray for that.
2:43
Just a thought.