June 16

The opportunities we’ve missed are mind numbing. We all have them, and if we allow them to do so, they can drive us to distraction! The piece of property we considered purchasing that seemed awfully expensive at the time but which has quadrupled in value since we decided against buying it makes us want to kick ourselves around the block a few times every time we drive past it.

Our personal list of regrets is inexhaustible and if we ponder the items on the list we shall be arrested in any further decision making because the weight of the wrong choices we’ve already made will dampen our enthusiasm for others. We can become spiritually paralyzed and virtually helpless to be effective for the Lord if we wallow in our past mistakes.

The Word suggests a way out of the box to which we tend to confine ourselves when it’s time to make a decision and we fear stepping out of our comfort zone into the vast expanse of opportunity that He opens before us. In Proverbs 27:17 it says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” The attitudes of our friends impact us more than we realize.

It is the friends with whom we associate, the people with whom we surround ourselves who can propel us forward or hold us back in our pursuit of worthy goals. And that is not to blame another for ones own inertia! It is merely to recognize the importance of our selecting friends and emulating actions that inspire our own. If we select friends who are highly motivated to fulfill their potential, their motivation will spill over on us.