Good friends are God’s destiny helpers

Everyone needs friends, and we have realised the importance of these relationships in recent times, as many of us have lost friends and co-workers during the pandemic. Statistics tell us that 20 years ago the average person had six good friends, but today that numbers is two. The number of good friends we have is declining, and it is having a negative impact on our lives.

Typically, we are the sum of the five persons that are closest to us. So if they are underachievers, we will be as well, but if they are high achievers, it will impact our success as well. There are certain types of friendships that every person needs. These friendships come together to prosper our destiny.

King David was Israel’s greatest king but he would never have accomplished it all if it were not for friends who helped him to be a better version of himself. Every single one of us needs a friend who will make us better.

God had rejected the reigning king, Saul. God saw something in the forgotten son in Jesse’s family, young David, who was out tending sheep. David was the son that no one else saw. Jesse finally sent for him. When Samuel saw him the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him. This is the one.” 1 Samuel 16:12 (NIV). Not a single person who saw in David what God allowed Samuel to see in him. God used Samuel to help David reach his destiny as King over Israel.

The truth is that David was a shepherd. He did not understand what he needed to go to the next level. God put Samuel in his life, and Samuel looked at David and said, “God can do more through you than you could ever imagine,” and helped him get better in a way that would change the course of his life.

We all need a friend like Samuel. At every stage of our lives, a friend who sees the potential in us to be more than we are, is necessary. Those friends that make us better, and help us go to the next level.

Sometimes we have to seek out those friends, because those friendships don’t always happen accidentally. Sometimes you have to search for those persons, and other times, God will supernaturally lead you to them. We must ask ourselves, “Who are our friends?”, “Who do we hang out with?” Chances are, many of our friendships just kind of happened accidentally. It’s the guys from the gym, or the person that sits next to us in our class or some other random person. It’s just by accident but the real question we should ask is: Do they make me better? We could be one friend away from changing the course of our destiny.

We need to ask ourselves: Do I have someone in my life who helps make me better at the things that matter most? Do I have a friend, for example, that helps make my marriage, career, or life better? If you’re hanging around with people with bad marriages and bad work and general attitudes, they’re not going to make you better. Our friends are a strong indicator of our future. If you want to be better, you need to hang around people who will make you better. God uses good friends to encourage and guide us to be more than we think we are. He also wants to use us to help make others better as well . “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17 (NLT).