Ezekiel 2:8
"But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee."
Everybody has surroundings they must overcome.
We often think that those who grow up in a bad neighborhood are the only one's who must overcome their surroundings, but this isn't true. There are many instances when you must overcome your surroundings and do right. For instance, there are many who must overcome the surroundings at their workplace. There are some who must overcome the surroundings in their own home. There are some who must overcome the surroundings of their family and do right. There are many places that we must overcome our surroundings everyday and do right.
God made it very clear that Ezekiel would have to overcome his surroundings if he was going to do right. It says about Ezekiel in the verse above, "Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house:..." Ezekiel lived in a rebellious atmosphere. Every person around him had rebelled against God. God was very clear that He didn't want Ezekiel to let his surroundings affect his obedience to Him. Undoubtedly, he did overcome his surroundings and became a great prophet of God. I find there are some things that Ezekiel did that helped him to overcome his surroundings.
First, Ezekiel had to listen to his positive influences. It says in the verse above, "...hear what I say unto thee;..." Of course, God was the positive influence in his life, and he listened. If you are saved, then you must listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He tries to influence you. God is the most positive influence in your life. When He tells you to do something, then you must obey His guiding hand. In bad surroundings, the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit will show you what to do if you will listen.
Second, Ezekiel had to be determined to do right. In verses 4-8, you find that God warned him that those whom he was about to speak to would be stubborn and would not listen. In other words, God was telling Ezekiel he was going to have to be determined to do right, because he would not see change in his surroundings. If you're going to overcome your surroundings, then you must be determined you are going to do right. You may never change your surroundings, so you must be determined to do right in spite of what others around you do.
Third, verse 10 shows that Ezekiel had to let the Word of God influence his thinking. You will never overcome your surroundings if you don't spend time in the Scriptures. Much time in the Scriptures will influence your thinking process, which will help you to overcome bad surroundings.
Fourth, Ezekiel had to be willing to do the unpopular thing. In the next few chapters, Ezekiel was commanded to do some very unpopular things, which he did. Friend, you can't expect to overcome your surroundings and be accepted by everyone. When your surrounding are bad, then you will be unpopular when you try to do right. You must be willing to do that which is unpopular, and that which may cause others to be upset with you if you are going to overcome your surroundings.
Everyday you are going to be in places that try to influence you for wrong. Are you going to let them influence you to do wrong, or are you going to be the one who goes against the flow and come out of your surroundings doing right? It doesn't matter how bad your surroundings may be, if you will do these four things you can overcome any circumstance you face.