The Quality of Those Around You Matters a Lot (It Can Be What Saves You from Death)
“If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go in a group.” — Bishop Oyedepo
I fell sick a lot during my university days.
I can hardly remember a single semester that I did not go through a period when I fell sick. But I will never forget what happened in my second semester in school.
We were about writing exams when I took seriously ill. It was so serious that I could barely keep my eyes open. I couldn’t talk much or do anything meaningful but breathe. Reading was the last thing I thought of attempting. I was on my bed, doomed to flunk my exams, then Fidelis showed up.
He came over to stay with me at my lodge. All his efforts to make me read failed. It was that bad.
His last resort was to read out the handouts to my hearing as many times as was necessary for me to get a firm understanding of the subject. He went over them only God knows how many times. When he finished, he would ask me questions to see if I was following.
That was the drill until the exams. I dragged myself to the exam hall but a few minutes into the exams, I had to submit. It was a Computer-Based Test (CBT), and my eyes couldn’t contain the reflection from the screen for long. I was crying literally. I did what I could and submitted.
Long story short, when the results were released, we did excellently well.
King David’s story reminds me of mine.
David was almost killed by, Ishbi-Benob. Ishbi-Benob was one of the sons of the giant. He had David right where he wanted him. If not for the intervention of Abishai, David’s story would have ended a lot differently.
I was contrasting the day David stood before Saul offering to face Goliath with the day he almost lost his life to Ishbi-Benob. The contrast between these events reveals that the best of men would still be men. David’s story reminded me of mine, and it preached me a sermon:
The quality of people around you matters a lot.
Quality in this context speaks to the value they place on you, not so much their individual ability or brilliance.
Do your “friends” place a premium on your person?
Your answer should be an honest one. Because the day your strength fails you and your ability is not sufficient to defend you, you will need someone to defend you.
“Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor; for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 (AMP)
