I have a confession. I used to fall asleep in class…A LOT. In High School, I cared more about work than I did sleep or school. I worked a lot of late nights, and as a result, I would fight nodding off in class almost every single day. It showed up in my grades. I was one of those students that teachers told, “If you would just apply yourself…” I knew what they were saying. I could do better.
Fortunately, things changed for the better in college and seminary. I woke up to the fact that if I simply did the work, school was a lot easier. Amazing right?! I began to read my assignments and write papers and my grades improved dramatically. I found that I actually enjoyed learning!
The truth is we often sleepwalk through life – not just school. We nod off to our potential. We get pulled into what’s “normal” and easy for us to do, and we potentially miss out on our God-given destiny. We miss it because we’re asleep.
How do we wake up?
There are several tools God uses to wake us up, but one of the most powerful tools is our friends. The people we spend time with and give access to our lives shape us.
Here are some quotes that stand out to me about friends:
- It is impossible to live the right life if you have the wrong friends.
- Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.
- Your friends will always determine the quality and direction of your life. – Andy Stanley
- “He who walks with the wise will grow wise, and the companion of fools will suffer harm.” – Proverbs 13:20
God wants to wake you up to your destiny. Maybe God doesn’t want to use something to wake you up; maybe God wants to use someone to wake you up.
I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but you could be just ONE FRIEND AWAY from waking up to your God given destiny!
You could be just one friend away from waking up to your God-given destiny! Click To Tweet
It won’t happen by accident because not all friendships are equal. We need intentional friends in our lives. Let me take David’s life as an example. He had three kinds of friends that helped him wake up to his destiny. These are the same three friends we need. We need to pursue them.
We need friends that…
1. WAKE US UP TO OUR POTENTIAL
God had rejected Saul as king. He called Samuel to go and anoint the next king. Samuel looked at all the guys placed before him and every time God said, “Nope.”
What’s the deal?
God said, “You look at the appearance; I look at the heart.” God saw something in David and God helped Samuel to see in David what nobody else could see. In 1 Samuel 16, God says to Samuel, “Rise and anoint him. This is the one.”
I have a friend like that. In fact, he called me out of the blue just yesterday. His name is PJ Scott. He’s probably 40 or so years older than me. When I was a High Schooler, God used PJ Scott help me see what God could do in and through my life.
Do you have a friend like that? Do you have a friend that helps you live up to your potential in the areas of life that matter most?
2. WAKE US UP TO OUR STRENGTH
Several years later Saul wanted to kill David. He was mad and jealous because David was getting all the attention. He was becoming more popular than the king himself. So he decided to try to kill him. In 1 Samuel 23, David is on the run. This man with God-given potential was on the run.
Saul’s own son, Jonathan, sticks by David. It says in 1 Samuel 23:15-16 that “He helped him find strength in God.” God used Jonathan to help David find strength when he needed it the most. You need a friend like that.
You will get tempted to give up. You will go through trying times. You need a friend who sticks with you and helps you find the strength to keep standing.
I have a friend named Bryan that stands with me. God brought him into my life at just the right time, when I was tired and overwhelmed, and he helped me find the strength to stand when I didn’t think I could.
Do you have a friend like that?
3. WAKE US UP TO TRUTH
Years later, after David had been the king for a while, David took his eye off of the Lord and put his eye on Bathsheba. He broke the heart of God and put the kingdom at risk.
For about a year he didn’t think it was a big deal. He thought he could cover his sin. Until Nathan, the prophet shows up.
Nathan tells David a story about one man taking advantage of another. David gets angry and demands justice.
Nathan simply says, “David, you are the man.” (See 2 Samuel 12.)
God used Nathan to help David realize a hard truth that was destroying him. He loved him enough to tell him the truth. He woke David up and he saw something he had never seen before.
Do you have friends like this? Not friends you just hang out with. Not just friends that you goof off with. But friends that help you step into the destiny God has for your life.
Don’t just make friends by accident. Intentionally seek these kinds of friends out.
And as my grandmother used to tell me: If you want to have that kind of friend, you have to be that kind of friend. Who knows, you might just be the friend that helps someone else realize their God-given destiny.
Would you pray this simple prayer today?
Help me to see the people you want in my life. Give me the eyes to see and the heart to be faithful to it.
THE 140:
You could be just one friend away from waking up to your God-given destiny! Click To Tweet
This devotional is one in Sugar Hill Church’s First 30 devotional series for college students. To access the entire series & podcasts be sure to check SHC’s site each day, as new ones are added daily. (Because we know you are busy, just click here & save as bookmark.)
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