Many have used this passage as part of their marriage ceremony, and it is certainly appropriate. Solomon rightly said that there are 4 rewards for companionship: 1) a companion helps you get more done, 2) a companion helps you when you are down, 3) a companion provides warmth, and 4) a companion gives strength.<\/p>\n
Someone said a friend, a companion, is the kind of person that if you call them at midnight and tell them you need them, they don\u2019t ask, \u201cSo what\u2019s the problem?\u201d and then based on the answer decide whether or not to come. They simply ask, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d as they are getting dressed. Proverbs 17:17 says, \u201cA friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are few things more painful than betrayal by a close friend. The feelings of disappointment and loss when a friend becomes an enemy can be devastating. The natural reaction is to pull back, put up walls, and have only limited contact with other people. We do this to protect ourselves against further pain, walling off our emotions, not letting ourselves care too much or reveal too much. Rocker Paul Simon said in his song, I Am a Rock<\/em>:<\/p>\n I\u2019ve built walls And a rock feels no pain The problem is that although “a rock feels no pain and an island never cries,” it also never rejoices, feels happiness, contentment, or love. We are not rocks. And every person who has tried to be one has suffered death by isolation.<\/p>\n “LORD, help us to fear only You this day and not any person, we ask in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many have used this passage as part of their marriage ceremony, and it is certainly appropriate. Solomon rightly said that there are 4 rewards for companionship: 1) a companion helps you get more done, 2) a companion helps you when you are down, 3) a companion provides warmth, and 4) a companion gives strength. Someone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8751"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8751"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13736,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8751\/revisions\/13736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA fortress, steep and mighty
\nThat none may penetrate
\nI have no need of friendship
\nFriendship causes pain
\nIt\u2019s laughter and it\u2019s loving I disdain
\nI am a rock
\nI am an island<\/p>\n
\nAnd an island never cries<\/p><\/blockquote>\n