Friendships that are a Safe Place are critical to being truly transformed and becoming more and more like Jesus. Friendships that are a Safe Place are critical because it is only in the context of such relationships that we can dare to give voice to the questions, doubts and struggles that we have never yet given voice to. Friendships that are a Safe Place are critical because it is only in the context of such relationships that we can dare to bring into the light of God, things that we have kept hidden for years; perhaps even decades. Such friendships are a gift to be cherished. The poet George Elliot describes Safe Place friendships in this way:
“Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”
I am blessed among all men with more Safe Place friendships than most. First and foremost my Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and my wife, Debi, have been a safe place for me. Friends like Graeme Sellers (pictured above left, with me at an ARC Gathering), Joe Johnson (picture with me above right), Robert Walter, Charles Miller, Bob Mabry, Danny Mullins and Kevin McClure have all been among those who have been God's Safe Place friends for me at different points in my life.
If you have Safe Place friendships in your life, take time today to thank God for these brothers and sisters. If you do not have such a friendship in your life, ask God to give you one; ask God to send a Safe Place person into your life. Finally, ask God to continue transforming you so that you can be that Safe Place person for someone else. Be ruthless with yourself and ask God to do WHATEVER He needs to do in you, so that He can be that Safe Place through you for someone else.
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