I tell people that my favorite friends are “dive-bombers”. They show up when I least expect them to come, but when I need them the most. This morning, I was deep in my study of Scripture, when, all of a sudden, I heard my dive-bombing friends in my kitchen talking with my wife. Cindy showed up with her 7th bucket of fresh grown tomatoes to share with us, and Dennis quickly engaged me in a heart-to-heart conversation. What impacted me the most from their visit was the prayer that Dennis prayed from his heart, “Let me be Your words to others.”
As I wrote down my friend’s prayer words, I noticed that he didn’t pray, “Let me say Your words to others.” When my friends embody and become God’s living words, people notice. How can you debate and deny God’s Word when it has changed who you are and how you live? It’s the Imago Dei. God’s Word becoming fleshed out for people to see it and to encounter Him.
This afternoon, I was outside watering our garden when my dive-bombing friend Steve showed up. We shared discipleship resources and stories from his recent trip to Estes Park where he got to spend a week teaching. As he shared his pictures with me, it brought me back to the week that I spent with Steve and his wife at Estes Park.
Have you ever noticed how people and places become sacred when they’re set apart for God’s work? My dive-bombing dad heard Steve’s voice and came over to talk. Before long, Steve was giving my dad a picture tour of his Colorado trip. My Jesus-with-skin-on, dive- bombing friends made my day.
Over the years, I’ve made it a habit of dive-bombing my friends. I’ve never been a call-ahead friend. When I get the nudge from the Holy Spirit to visit a friend, I go. When I was in seminary, my pastoral care professor would encourage pastors-in-training to call ahead to make sure that it’s a good time to visit people. I never heeded those words of guidance. People have gotten used to me just showing up, and when they’re not home, I love to chalk art my friends by leaving encouraging messages.
As people are finding more and more excuses for hiding out in their homes, I want to encourage you to develop the art of dive-bombing your friends. Get on their turf and discover what their world is like. You’ll probably learn a lot from them, and your life will be better because you dive-bombed them.