What About Your Friends?

Out of all the many relaxing things I love to do, my favorites are reading and writing. Reading allows me to delve into another world, another place, another circumstance. Writing (or journaling) allows me to express myself more openly and freely, and in some cases, better than I can express myself verbally. I typically keep a journal where I can express my thoughts, my fears, my wants, joys, pains, etc.

I was looking over some past journal entries I had written about 15 years ago and it was about friendships. At that time, I was in a place where God was calling me away from certain people, places and things, in order to do what He was calling me to do. I did not understand God's call then, but I understand it now and it took me 15 years to get it. Sometimes, in order for us to walk into our destiny, God has to take us away from what is familiar or comfortable to us. He has to do whatever it takes for us to see no one but Him. It is up to us to be obedient to the call.

Abram is a prime example of this. He too was instructed to leave what was familiar to him. "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12: 1-2 NASB). Abram was instructed to leave everything that was familiar to him and more than likely, that included his friends. God has a plan for Abram and some of the people that were close to him could not participate in the plan. I grew up hearing this saying: WHAT GOD HAS FOR ME IS FOR ME. In other words, what God has for you, everyone can't participate in it. Everyone can't partake in it. Everyone can't understand it. Everyone can't stand to see you blessed! Abram had to let go, and follow God. What would have happened if Abram was not obedient to the call? What would have happened if he refused to leave all he had ever known? God promised Abram that he would make him the "Father of Many Nations." What would happen, or DID happen, because you didn't answer the call? What if God is promising you something, but you can't receive it because some of your friends have become distractions instead of friends?What if God needs you to change the world?

I believe the call on my life occurred when I began to teach first and second graders in a Sunday School class. Even though I grew up in church, it was something about teaching that catapulted me to a higher level of prayer and scriptural study. I did not realize that God was calling me to teach. So much so, that it has become my passion.

The more I focused on God, the more I became detached from some of my friends in order to walk into this call. We either lost touch along the way or, what seemed to me as having a lot in common, changed to having nothing in common. I was no longer invited to certain events anymore. Our conversations and goals changed. I began to feel ike I didn't fit in. At first, it was a tough adjustment for me, but looking back, I now realize it was all part of God's plan. He kept revealing Himself to me over and over again until I began to understand the plan for my life. My pastor, Dr. R.A. Vernon, preached a sermon entitled, "It Had to Happen". Some things have to happen for God's plan to unfold. My relationships had to change. My friendships had to change, or end. It had to happen.

Did you hear God's call, but a friendship that you are in distracted you? Are you missing what God is trying to tell you because your friends have become more important than God? I challenge you ladies, to examine the friendships you have around you. As you stand for Christ, are the same friends standing with you? What if you have unsaved friends? Will they still remain your friends despite your different agendas? Do you have friends supporting your stand for Christ or are they bringing YOU down? In other words, are you pulling THEM or are they pulling YOU? I believe that some friends are in your life for a season. However, some seasons are longer than others. Stop holding onto things that God is telling you to let go of? What about your friends? A TRUE friend sticks closer than a sister. Maybe it is time to block some friends. Maybe it is time to let go of people who do not have your well being at heart. Maybe it is time to find new friends, a new atmosphere, a new outlook on life. Pray and ask God to put the right people in your life to help you get to your destiny in Him. But for the people who are not supposed to be in your life, who criticize you, who disappoint you, who don't stand by you, just use them as stepping stones to get to your next level!

Forever Hoping for you,

Y.