THE TRUE FRIEND by Nellie F. Heald

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 1, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 14

THE TRUE FRIEND.

By Nellie F. Heald

BY NELLIE F. HEALD.

How dreary would this world be without friends! To love and to be loved—how it sweetens the chalice of earthly enjoyment! Every true pleasure is greatly enhanced when shared by those we love. There are many lonely moments, when the heart longs for sympathy and affection, when it turns from every other source of pleasure to the heart of a true friend. But friends, however dear and true, cannot satisfy the heart’s deep need. Human friendship is imperfect. It cannot reach the inner recesses of the heart.

Friends, too, must part. They cannot always be with us. Death may set its icy seal upon some dear form, and the frozen lips utter no response to our loving appeal, the closed eyes return no answering look. Earth may present to us scenes of beauty and brightness; but they have lost their power to charm, because the heart that once throbbed in sympathy with ours is still and pulseless. We may be surrounded by all the comforts of life, but oh, the dreary desolation of the bereaved!

But deeply as we may feel the need of earthly friends, there is One whose friendship is dearer and sweeter, of whose aid and sympathy we have more urgent need. Our Saviour is that friend. He can supply all our need. Other friends may misunderstand and repulse us, but this dear Heavenly friend understands us perfectly. His sweet and tender sympathy enters into the heart’s inner depths, soothing its wild throbbings, and speaking, “Peace, be still,” to its troubled waters. Other friends may forget us; but he assures us, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” When the blank future stretches out before us, dark and uncertain, he whispers, “I will guide thee with mine eye.” At times he may seem far away, but the winged prayer will bring him near. Amid life’s changes and uncertainties, we may remember for our comfort, that with him is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” He is the same loving, all-powerful, and perfect Saviour. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.” The heart can feel no sorrow, no trial, that Jesus cannot bless for our present and eternal good. Let us, then, trust him and cling to him till the conflict of life is over; for love—unbounded love—shall guide us through this “vale of tears” to perfect joys above.

Battle Creek, Mich.