“The righteous choose their friends carefully….” – Proverbs‬ 12‬:26‬ ‬‬‬

Choosing Your Allies 

I had a dream where I saw a man being swept down a river toward a waterfall.  I crawled out onto a limb and reached down and we grabbed each other’s wrists.  However, the current was so strong that I could not pull him up onto the limb.  I then felt the limb begin to crack.  The crisis just got much worse.  Should I let go of him to save myself and watch him go over the waterfall perhaps to his death, or do I hang on even though I don’t have the strength to pull him up just to have the limb break and we both go over the waterfall? 

The Lord was revealing to me to be prayerful about who I try to help, and especially, who I ally myself with.  Was it a good thing to want to help the man in the water?  Of course.  Was it what the Lord wanted me to do?  Perhaps. If I didn’t, would the waterfall had killed him?  Perhaps not.  Or perhaps more likely, God had someone else downstream who was supposed to save him instead.  We don’t know what is downstream for the people in our stories.  Allying with them might just be delaying them from getting what the Father has for them.

I think about Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son who after wasting his inheritance was hired by the pig farmer. The farmer likely had the best intentions to help the young man, but by helping him, he kept him from returning to his Father’s arms where he was always meant to be.

But, doesn’t the Bible tell us to be generous when we can? And it does feel good to help someone who is in need. But, could our generosity be delaying that person from running back to their father‘s arms?

We feel like we are being generous when we give money, support or even a job to someone who needs it, but what if it is God himself who is humbling or disciplining that person. Plus, when we ally ourselves with someone who God is disciplining, we might just find ourselves experiencing challenges we would not have otherwise endured. When God has determined to crush a man or woman to discipline them and bring them to the end of themselves, it is a really bad time to ally ourself with that person as we will invariably experience the overflow of that crushing. We would much rather ally ourselves with someone who God is about to bless with great abundance. But how can we know who is who?

Sometimes, God may just want us to be part of the person’s story, but many times he will tell us who to steer clear of. 

Isaiah 30:1-2 says, “Woe to…those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit… who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection….”  

And Isaiah 30:18 goes on to say, “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

A consistent theme in scripture is how blessed those are who consult with, and wait on, the Lord.  Holy Spirit loves to reveal to us everything we need to know when we walk humbly with him. 

Exodus 34:10-12 contains an awesome promise for those who seek the Lord in these times.

“I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you [your enemies]. Be careful not to make a treaty with [them].”

The awesome thing about this promise is that God himself is doing all the work!  Our job is to simply obey him and not make a treaty or alliance was just anyone. Our responsibility is to listen for his voice and to obey what we hear. 

Every alliance, whether a prospective employee, customer, supplier, banker etc. could be a great blessing or a great curse.  As we remain in Christ and walk in the Spirit he will make clear to us and to our team members who is who.   

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