Long ago a faithful missionary wanted to give the gospel to a tribe of people in South America who at that time didn’t know how to read. Pastor Stahl had preached to them, and they could see he was kind and he loved them. They wanted him to stay and teach them the truth about God and His word, the Bible.
But he couldn’t stay with them. So he promised them he would send a teacher who would come in his stead, and teach them the same Good News message he had been teaching.
But then they began thinking. How could they know that someone coming who says he is sent by Pastor Stahl is really the true one? How could they be sure they would not be deceived? If he wrote a letter and even signed it, they couldn’t read it; so how could they know, they asked him.
Pastor Stahl thought a few moments, wondering what to do. Then he got an idea—that the Holy Spirit must have given him.
He picked up an ordinary stone. Then he cracked it into two pieces. He gave one half to the chief of the tribe who wanted a teacher to come. “Chief,” said Pastor Stahl, “I will give my half of this broken stone to the teacher whom I send. Then when he comes, you can put the two halves together. No other stone in all the world will fit this broken half!” It was a brilliant idea, don’t you think? The people were happy.
Did you know that you yourself are also one half of a broken stone, and the other half is Jesus Himself? If you have a broken stone, you can look all over the world and never find another half that fits perfectly, except that one true half. You are different than any other person. God has created you special; He knows all about your habits and the things about you that are so different from anyone else. He even knows all your thoughts and your secret feelings that no one else, not even your parents, can know. Psalm 139 says: “Lord, You have examined me and You know me. … from far away You understand all my thoughts. You see me whether I am working or resting … even before I speak, You know what I will say. You are all around me on every side. … Your knowledge of me is too deep … Where could I go to escape from you? … Even darknes s is not dark to You” (Psalm 139:1 - 12).
The one Person who understands you so fully is the other Half of the “broken stone” that is you—Jesus Christ. And even though He knows all about you, He still loves you and respects you. He trusts you. He still believes in you, that you will become the wonderful person that He has called you to be.
When you pray to the Father in Jesus’ name, He understands you. Nobody else can, because Jesus has told us, “When you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). The King James Bible says it a little clearer: “Pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
The Father and Jesus are one, for the Bible says that there is one God. So when the Father is your Friend, be sure that Jesus is your Friend. You have a “secret” with Him! No one else can get in on it. That’s exciting, isn’t it? And even though He knows all that you do and say in secret, He still loves you because He forgives. He is teaching you to obey Him as though you were the only person in the world. He is the One True Friend you will always have.