I Picked Up a Runaway

by: Holly Good, Assistant to Lysa TerKeurst

"My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place."
Jeremiah 50:6 (NIV)

I picked up a young runaway one afternoon.

She was dirty, wore baggy sweat pants and a yellow sweatshirt, and had muddy feet. I was stopped at an intersection when she sauntered across the street right in front of my car.

I continued on when the light turned green.

But I could not get those bare feet out of my mind. Those muddy, bare feet.

Why was this young girl walking across a busy intersection with no shoes on in the middle of a school day? About a mile down the road I felt the Lord encouraging me to turn around and go find that girl with the bare feet.

It was a gentle, but direct nudge I could not refuse.

I found her several minutes later outside a convenience store with a cup of water in her hand. I pulled up, rolled down my window and said, "Hey, what’s going on with you?"

With little emotion she replied, "Oh nothing."

"Well…what are you doing? Can I take you home?" I offered.

"You can take me to my friend’s house," she answered.

"I’d rather take you home," I said. "Where do you live?"

"Well, I’m running away from home, so you can’t take me there," she said.

"Oh. Well, I would like to. Where do you live?" I asked again.

She eventually complied and trustingly got in my car. (Oh how my heart was pounding!)

My new friend Sarah was only in 8th grade, skipping school and leaving home because she got into an argument about friends with her parents. She had been gone for two days. The previous night she had slept outside.

I prayed for just the right words to come from my mouth with my fragile but captive audience of one, on the 20-minute ride to her house.

As I dropped Sarah off at her home, I prayed that the Lord would take over from there. I drove off and felt a peace in what He had led me to do that day.

It just so happened that a minor traffic accident had occurred around the corner as I was leaving. So I pulled over and told one of the officers about Sarah, hoping they could also help her in some way.

Find her. Stop her. Detain her. Guide her. Protect her. Save her.


As I prayed for my runaway friend in the days that followed, I realized that she is not much different from you and me. From a place we have journeyed or perhaps a place we are in right now.

Most of us have found ourselves running away at some point in our lives. Running from someone or something. Looking to escape.

Running, yet desperately hoping to be found.

She is lonely. She is angry. She feels betrayed. She feels misunderstood. She feels unloved. She is searching. She is confused. She is bitter. She wants to rest.

Oh my friend, I pray that you will have eyes to see, ears to hear and a place to finally find rest. For you are loved.

You are loved indeed.

Seek Him right now.

Dear Lord, thank You for loving me today and every day. I am grateful that You are bigger than all of my problems. Give me the courage and the wisdom to seek You today, regardless of my circumstances. I want to be found by You Lord. And give me a heart to be able to see and help others near me in need. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

A Recipe for Relationships

by: Micca Monda Campbell

"... he loved him as he loved himself."
1 Samuel 20:17b (NIV)

My mother use to tell me to count myself lucky if I had just one "close friend." That's because close life-long relationships are hard to come by.

So many people today are looking for meaningful relationships, yet so few actually find them. We are becoming an increasingly private society, and it seems fewer people than ever have life-long intimate friendships. Still, the desire for this kind of relationship is not only sought after, but necessary.

Women are naturally drawn to other women. In fact, a girl's first experience with heartache may have been over a lost "best friend" rather than a "boy friend." Women value friendships. When they are lost, we grieve; not just over the friendship itself, but also for the secrets shared, the trust given and the acceptance enjoyed. If betrayed, the pain runs deep causing us to wonder if intimate friendships are really possible.

When I think of a biblical example of real friendship, the story of David and Jonathan, found in 1 Samuel 19, always comes to mind.

Jonathan, son of King Saul, was David's closest friend. But his father, the king, despised David because he was growing in popularity and because God had anointed David to be king. These facts enraged King Saul, so much that he commanded his aids and Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan loved David, therefore betrayal was impossible.

Love isn't the only fruit of true friendship. A real relationship consists of sacrifice too.

Jonathan stripped himself of the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his armor, his sword, his bow, and his belt. Jonathan was the potential heir to his father's throne, but we see him sacrificing his future for his best friend as he literally gave David his place as king.

You and I can learn from this action that true friendship means a willingness to sacrifice for each other in love. It's the ability to put another's needs, desires, and wishes above our own.

Loyalty is also a mark of true friendship. We're told that Jonathan went to his father and spoke well of David. Jonathan also stood up to his dad and essentially said, "Dad, you're wrong about David. He hasn't done any wrong to you; in fact, everything he's done has helped you." A true friend is a loyal defense before others, one who won't talk about you when you're not around. True friends stick up for each other.

Finally, intimate friends give each other complete freedom to be themselves. In an intimate friendship, you don't have to explain why you do what you do. You're just free to do it.

When Jonathan gave David the news that things were troubled in the palace and that his dad was going to kill him, the two were forced to say goodbye. The text tells us that they wept together.
When your heart is broken, you can bleed all over a friend like this and she'll understand. She won't try to dismiss your misery or tell you to straighten up. Intimate friends let each other hurt and they weep together. If your friend needs to talk it through, you will listen. Intimate friends don't bale; they stay. They allow you to be yourself no matter what "self" looks like in that moment.

If you're looking for a godly recipe for relationships, look no further. Mix together love, sacrifice, loyalty, and freedom and you can create an intimate friendship that lasts a lifetime.

Dear Lord, help me to be a friend like Jonathan. Then, bless me with the same. In Jesus' Name, Amen.