Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

This weekend, we spent some time with old friends – the kind you can miss seeing for a long while and then pick up right where you left off. It was a good weekend and hopefully we’ll catch up again soon, but I can say from at least one specific experience that if we fall down, they are the kind of people who would be there to pick us up as Solomon wrote in the verses above.

Then I think about some of my other friends who have recently transitioned to a period of being alone through the loss of a spouse. One of my friends expressed that being “a party of one” is less than ideal and in the Genesis account of Creation agrees –

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Genesis 2:18

A spouse can’t be replaced so it’s important in this season of loss to have a network of friends you can count on, right? True friends are there in challenging times.

A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 17:17

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Keep these Scriptures in mind as you consider your own friendships.