Soaring With The Eagles

Mark 5:40 -

⁴⁰And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
(www.bibleresources.bible.com)

Joel Osteen's message that I tuned into today was about those that you keep in your inner circle and how they have to be able to inspire you, encourage you, and see where your destiny is leading you. They can't just be with you they have to be for you. He reminded us that you can't soar with the eagles if you are hanging around with turkeys. He also reminded us that God will never ask that you give up something with out replacing it with something better. It doesn't make the decisions or the need any easier but it is encouraging to hope that something/someone better is around the corner.

It's so hard sometimes to pull away from toxic relationships. I know for me personally I keep my circle small in the first place so when I have to consider pulling away from others for my own ability to continue to grow and reach God's purpose for me, that is really hard. I've come to the conclusion though that everything that happens in our lives truly does fulfill a purpose and a reason. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be there for people or with helping people get through a tough time or a tough place but when you recognize that some people are always going through drama, always a victim, always in need of support, it makes sense to stop and think how you are enabling rather than helping if you continue to stay in that same role in that persons life.

I had one purge a few years ago where I let go of some friends that I had for YEARS!!! I realized that the only time they contacted me though was when they wanted something or needed something or when they needed a distraction or were bored and wanted to do something. It got to the point where I started to really take inventory with how much of myself, my day, my struggles I was able to share with these people and how much of the conversations were solely based on them. When it came down to it I realized that the friendship was very one sided and that I didn't deserve those kinds of friends in my life.

My current situation is rather different. I have come to a point in my life where I truly desire to work on making myself a better person and a better contributor to this world. I see the main vehicle for that desire being to continue to surrender to God and his plan for my life but also to continue to spend my time and my efforts with people who encourage and inspire me and who want to see me continue to prosper. Part of that means that these people themselves have to be of a positive mindset, willing to look beyond themselves and their wants to see how they can use their life to serve and help others and really be committed to seeing extraordinary things occur in their lives. I wish that I could say those who are currently in my inner circle definitely represent those areas/goals/beliefs but I know that is not the case. It becomes really difficult then to determine who I need to pull away from if for nothing else just to get some real perspective not effected by emotional attachment on whether this person is someone who is with me or really for me, and not just for me, but for God, and for themselves.

This particular topic has been one that I have been really thinking about a lot lately. I just feel that I have been too blessed and that I have too much opportunity to stop now, to not believe now, to not continue to grow! I love people, I love to serve others by helping them however I can. Sometimes, I get caught up or lost in my own manipulation though of my feelings to not see or not wanting to see when a relationship has become toxic and when there is nothing left for me to do but to pull back. So my prayer this Sunday is that God gives me the wisdom to review those that I have in my inner circle and allows me to recognize those who are going to help me become closer to him and where he is leading me in my life. I pray that God helps me to love those that I love but that are not able to assist in this goal from a far and I pray that instead of their negative energy, lax, discouragement, selfishness, or other complaining, disregarding, or lack of intelligence pulling me in a backward direction, that they will find their purpose and way, and that no matter the outcome of our friendship they will find their way to a closer or to a relationship in general with God. Amen.