ARE YOU THAT SOMEBODY?

We all need them... You know, that person that says " Ohhh no you do not need to wear that skirt anymore". Or the one that says, " Now why did you eat that last piece of pizza?" Or even the one that says "it's okay to cry we all screw things up every now and then." Ya'll know that one friend who can check you but they are still the one you run to for solid advice in so many situations. Most of us are pretty fortunate to have a friend or two like this. These friends tend to come a dime a dozen.

In church Sunday, during my pastor's sermon, he began to talk about David... Specifically the David and Bathsheba situation ( catch the whole story in 2 Samuel 11 if you don't know what I am talking about). The short story is David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof... She was married... He didn't care. He wanted her and did everything he could, LITERALLY EVERYTHING, to have her. Adultery, murder, deceit... You name it he did it. He messed up pretty bad... But this isn't what stuck out to me. If you flip over to 2 Samuel 12 you find Nathan.

Nathan is the friend I wrote about at the beginning of the post. He is actually the epitome of that. He called David out in his wrong doing... Yes, HE CALLED KING DAVID OUT. He did not hesitate. He just did it. And it messed David up so much to the point where David's grief brings him to pin the beautiful Psalm 51.

Ya'll we all need a Nathan. It's inevitable. We need that person who can come in and knock us down... straight wreck us when we have done wrong. Let me be clear. NOT A PERSON WHO WILL WAG THEIR FINGER IN YOUR FACE. We need that person who can set us straight and also help us begin to put the pieces back together.

While I was thinking about who my Nathan is I began to think, am I a Nathan to my friends or do I just pat them on the back and let them wallow in their wrong doing? The fact of the matter is even if I am a Nathan now I have not always been. It's been PLENTY of times when I knew my friend was wrong and I still kept my lips zipped.

In my younger years I was the type that would say I have fifteen best friends and I was loyal to them all and they were just as loyal to me. LIES! It's just no way that can happen. You are bound to be BFF's with someone your other BFF doesn't like and that's where the disloyalty begins. Thank God for growth and maturity and a decreased friend circle because fifteen best friends is exhausting (lol).
I say it in a joking manor but in all seriousness I am grateful to not feel like I need to keep up with multiple people and their lives. I am grateful to have literally a handful of friends to not only be Nathan to me but I in return can be Nathan to them.

My gradual growth in Christ has caused me to be able to be a little more bold in stating what's right. No, I was not just sitting around lying to my friends about whether their outfits were cute or not. I found myself sugarcoating the tough things in life like " girl he isn't that bad of a boyfriend or well they talked about us so it's only right that we talk about them." But in my sugarcoating I saw that life wasn't getting sweeter. I saw my friends suffering with broken relationships and messed up mindsets and it was partially my fault because I was not one hundred with them. Those times taught me plenty of lessons. One being... Tell them what you would want them to tell you BUT with a sincere and earnest heart. No matter how hard it hurts or how bummed you feel to have to do it.

Sometimes being a " Nathan" comes easy. You know why? Because your friends know you have their best interest at heart so they come to you for advice from the beginning. Other times it's not so easy because you might find yourself getting that tug from the spirit telling you to initiate the conversation and shut the situation down. Never be mean but be honest. Always pray for guidance and understanding. Be the friend that you will one day need again. Be a Nathan. Be that Somebody.

Brittany