.

I can imagine at these appearances people come to him shake his hand, get his autograph and generally just let him know how much they admire his golf game. I can imagine these appearances could leave a fellow thinking he is well liked and has lots of friends, at least on the surface.

John Daley is not only one of the most popular golfers but he is also one of the saddest stories in sports. For over a decade he has battled alcoholism, suffered through embarrassing divorces and split ups, and been known to dismantle a locker room in anger. He probably for one reason or another has never lived up to his potential.

Today I read an excerpt from a book that details another of Daley’s struggles, this one with gambling. He speaks in this book of going to Las Vegas and loosing 600,000 dollars in thirty minutes! Then losing 1.5 million in five hours. That boggles the mind, it boggles this mind anyway.

I first heard this report on the radio this morning and one thought jumped to my mind right off the bat and that is, “Does this man have one friend in the world?”

There he is sitting there at the slot machine or the black jack table and no one says hey John don’t you think you ought to slow down a bit. Or hey John lets leave this place while you still have some money in your pocket. Did he not have one good friend by him who would grab him by his coat and get him out of there before he self destructed? Where were his real friends?

That is a sad story of millions lost but I wonder how good of friends are we to those around us? Sad stories happen every day that real friends might have been able to prevent. When our friend gets in a relationship at work and we see it heading the wrong direction do we step up and say hey watch out this is a trap. When we see the books being manipulated do we step in say hey this will get you in jail, bail out while you can? Just simple stuff like hey your spending too much time at the golf course or fishing hole while your kids are growing up, go home and stay there a while.

People loose their families, jobs, position, freedom and their relationships with people they love every day. They make decisions that they later regret with all of their heart. Most of the times someone close to them can see the train coming but never blow a whistle of warning.

As believers we need to step in and say the hard things when they need to be said. We need to lovingly confront someone when we see them making destructive choices. We need to try more than once if we have to.

Which is better trying to help someone avoid unnecessary pain in their life of helping them pick up the pieces of their broken lives?

Experience has taught me this a good friend cares enough to speak up, take charge and do whatever it takes to keep a friend from harms way. For John Daley the silence of those around him has cost him millions, for our friends it may be far more costly than that.

What kind of friend are you?

Scripture: Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”

Proverbs 13:14, “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.”

Proverbs 18:24, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to be wise and knowledgeable friends. Help us to pray for those we love and to have courage to speak the truth in love when we see pain on the horizon. For us this conflict is often scary, have us to lean on you for our very strength. We ask these things in Christ Name, Amen.