The Inner Circle
By Shauna Leis
“About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.”
Luke 9:28-29
Early in life there were not many people whom I would claim as deep, close friends. Oh, I had many acquaintances and people I called friends. Being a minister’s daughter, one is constantly surrounded by people. But, there were not many people who really knew me and what was going on inside of me. Girls in middle school and high school typically were very superficial (or at least they were at my school, years and years ago), and it was hard to find a true confidant to talk with about all that life was throwing our way. Middle school and high school years were probably some of the most difficult years in my life as I dealt with all of the emotions that came with puberty, growing up, and just life in general.
Thankfully God finally answered my prayers and brought a very dear friend into my life our junior year in high school who seemed to know my words before I spoke them and knew my moves before I made them. We lost contact for awhile in college and after graduation. And I just knew that there was something missing in my life for many years as I struggled with “who do I talk with about all of these ‘girl’ issues.”
God then faithfully answered my prayers again as He brought some incredibly godly women into my life at just the right pivotal moment when I really needed someone to bond with and share what the inside of me was all about. Thankfully, even after my sharing of who I really was inside – they still loved me! As a matter of fact, just recently one of these friends and I were sharing with each other, and she exclaimed, “Praise the Lord, I knew I was not crazy feeling these feelings.” And do you know something even cooler? God answered a long-standing prayer of mine and reunited my high school best friend and me after almost 10 years of being apart. Now, it is like we never lost each other.
Friend, humans were meant to do life together. We were not created for the shear purpose of taking up space and breathing oxygen. God designed us from the beginning to be with other people. If we are wondering what in the world all this friendship stuff really means, then we need look no further than to the example of Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus had many acquaintances. People followed Jesus from town to town just wanting to be near Him. In Luke 10:1-2, however, Jesus narrowed His acquaintances down to 72 disciples who would carry His message out into the towns ahead of Him. “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”
Jesus also appointed “the Twelve” disciples. Luke’s description in 9:1-2 says it most aptly, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick.” Jesus took this very large following of people and narrowed it down to a select twelve whom He loved with all His heart and taught them about the real meaning of the Scriptures. Is that not true for us as well? We, too, narrow down our group of acquaintances with whom we speak and are friendly down to a smaller group of close friends. These are the people with whom we choose to spend the most time, and we want to share with them all that we know so we have kindred spirits.
Finally, Jesus picked three to be with Him at some of the most crucial times in His ministry. Jesus knew that He needed a very small, inner circle of intimate friends to do life with while He was here on earth. Peter, James, and John were chosen from among the Twelve to be with Him almost at all times. Read the passage from Luke at the beginning with me again. These three were allowed to witness Jesus as He would appear in heaven in His true form – they saw His transfiguration! Can you just imagine what these three must have been feeling during these times?
But perhaps the most telling time is found in Mark 14:32-34. “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’” While Jesus dealt with the emotions of knowing He was about to die for all humanity, through no guilt of His own, He took with Him these chosen three so that they would understand what was about to happen. He needed these three friends to pray with Him as He prayed with His heavenly Father. His feelings were becoming overwhelming as the sins of the world were about to crash over top of Him, and He asked these three friends to be with Him.
So, what about you? Do you have acquaintances who are concerned about your well being? Are there a number of people who want to know more about you and who you are? These are the people with whom you share like Bible study groups and MOPs – who call you when you are not there to find out if anything is wrong. Finally, we must have an inner circle of deep, close friends with whom we can do life! Jesus Himself gave us this example throughout Scripture. If you do not have some sweet darlings with whom you do life, let me pray for you right now that God will bring them into your life.
Pray with me: Abba, Father! Lord, we know that we were meant to have friends –good friends, a close inner circle of friends. Lord, I thank You for the wonderful friends that You have put into my life along the way, just when I needed them. God, I pray especially now, for these sweet friends out there who do not have a close, inner group with whom they can share all that they are and praise You that someone shares a kindred spirit to their own. But, above all, we thank You that even when we do not have someone physically here on earth, You are always there for us. You never leave us or forsake us. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.