“The choice of association is one that will always determine the destination of every man and woman”.
~Dr. Ebenezer Markwei~
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteh in the seat of the scornful”. -Psalms 1:1
You need to understand that how far you will go in life or how quickly you will achieve your dreams depends extensively on the people you surround yourself with. You are the C.E.O. of your life and therefore have the prerogative to hire those you want in your space and fire those who are not contributing positively to your life.
When you begin to realise that you are at a standstill with regards to your goals, kindly check the company you are in and start doing some healthy pruning. Rest assured; this exercise will be of tremendous help to you. Proverbs 13:20 says
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed”.
Be careful not to become static in the pursuance of your assignment because of the company you find yourself in. You alone can better motivate yourself than any person around you. The seriousness of your approach towards your goal determines to some extent the people you attract to yourself. Sometimes, we are unable to see the solutions we crave for or achieve our set goals faster because we open our ears to a lot of opinions which only leads to confusion and unnecessary pressure.
“A man of too many friends comes to ruin…” (Proverbs 18:24a)- [New American Standard Bible]
Take charge. Be in control of your space if you really want to see the solution within you brought to bear. It is time to part ways with some unions. It could be your closest friend or even a fiancé/fiancée whose vision is not aligning with yours. You will only get frustrated and not fulfil your God-given purpose if you decide to hold on to such friendships.
Instead, get yourself involved in healthy relationships, the ones that have the tendency of pushing you closer to fulfilling your goals and staying focused.
Remember Sampson cut his life short without fully accomplishing his assignment as a judge in Israel because of the company he got himself involved in – the Philistine (ungodly) woman. (see Judges 14-16)
A sharp contrast to Sampson is Daniel, who on the other hand was able to accomplish his purpose here on earth because of the friends he surrounded himself with. These friends-Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah shared the same faith as Daniel. They had similar dreams or vision and so they could team up in working towards accomplishing their life goals.
Daniel and his friends found themselves in a foreign land, a land that did not support their faith and belief. There were ungodly people all around them but they refused to partner with any of them in any way. I believe they were able to achieve this because of the consciousness of their assignment and its fulfilment.
“Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon”. – Daniel 2:17-18
Do not compromise your dream because of the place you find yourself now. Decide on the friends or people you want to allow into your space.
Embrace people who can help you stay focused on your assignment. Be the number one fan of every achievement you make. Don’t wait on people’s approval or praises before you move on. So far as you know and are convinced, you’re on the right path, don’t open up to friends who only see your weaknesses or negatively criticise you always. Prune off those distractors and stay focused on achieving that set goal.
I am not trying to say you should esteem yourself higher than anyone around you but rather: be open to sincere and constructive criticisms, as well as wise counsel that can lead you to speedy accomplishment. Even the Bible admonishes us to heed to counsel:
“Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”-Proverbs 11:14
Don’t give in to distractions; rise up to fulfil that dream no matter what. You may find yourself in a foreign land and surrounded by strange or ungodly people; but like Daniel, refuse to be pulled along by them so you don’t end up dying like Sampson. Stand firm on your principles or values in life and you will be fruitful and blessed. (Psalms 1:1)
The truth is, the friends you make either add up or subtract from your life’s achievement. They have the tendency of making or unmaking you. The onus lies on you to choose right.
I pray that God will open our eyes, sharpen our instincts regarding who to pay attention to or take counsel from and who to ignore in Jesus’ name, Amen.
