I have a very dear and close friend that died quite a few years ago. He and I were, I guess you could say, were like sister and brother that's how close we were. We shared so many things between us and we loved each other deeply and sincerely. I confided in him about things in my life that I could not trust or dare to tell or share with anyone else; just him. He was never ever too busy for me. If I had a problem, and believe me, I have had many many major problems in my life, he was always right there to give me the absolute best advice a friend could give to another friend. I love him so much. He had a bevy of beautiful and unique qualities that no one else that I knew could compare or even came close to possessing. He was wonderful, amazing, awesome, brilliant in so many ways, patient, kind, loving, caring, generous, always giving, majestic, beautiful inside and out and he was so sweet and I truly adored everything about him. He was special and his heart was filled with pure love. His mother and Father were amazing and so I was not surprised to see that he was the product of his parents; gentle, kind and loving.
There were times when I didn't know how I was going to make ends meet from one day to the next, but because of his generous sweet spirit, I never had to fear or worry. When he gave me money, he gave it from his heart and he always told me that I didn't have to pay it back. He had so much to give; he seemed to have an endless supply of anything that I needed; advice, love, compassion. He was the kind of friend everyone, men, women and children need to have in their lives. I think about all that my friend has done for me and I marvel at his goodness.
When I think about how my friend died, I have to thank him because he literally died for me. Every time I think of him suffering the way that he did I have to thank him.
One day as I was praying, I heard a lot of noise outside my living room window. I saw these men torturing my friend as the blood trickled down his face. My body became weak and numb as he gave no resistance to these men who had my friend in such a tight grip.
I ran outside to help him; to loose him from their snares, but he told me that there was nothing I could do. He told me how much he loved me and that he promised that he would be okay and he would see me again real soon. He then told me to go back in the house and finish praying as he knew I had always done three times a day at the same time everyday. Though I didn't understand what he meant at that moment, I trusted his words as I looked into his beautiful and amazing brown eyes which spoke nothing but, trust my heart; and I have trusted him ever since the day he came into my life because he was always a man of his word, true to his word. He had delivered me from many things that were going on in my life; he saved me from those who were trying to hurt me because they hated me because of my relationship with him so it was not hard for me to trust him because he was so trustworthy and so good to me in ways that were too many to count.
As I walked back into the house I cried and cried tears of sorrow as my heart slowly began to break as they took my friend away. I did not follow him because he told me not to; he was such a dear and close friend, I wanted to honor his request and took heed to his very word. When I entered the closet I fell to my knees, now praying for my dear sweet friend. I no longer heard the noise that had stopped me from praying and now my body shook with fear as I longed to hear what had happened to my friend.
A few days had passed by and I did not hear a word about or from my loving friend. I was so worried about him, but in my heart, I knew that he was going to live regardless of what those men had done to him.
One early Sunday morning, as I sat at my kitchen table admiring and adoring the majesty of the Lord, there appeared right before my eyes, my friend. He was clothed in a long bright white glistering linen cloth and he had a glow as if he had been to heaven. He knocked at the door and when I opened it, He came in, sat down, and has been here with me ever since that day.
Written by Cynthia Boyer