Counsel

Proverbs continues to explain to us who is wise and who is not. Today's reading from Proverbs is filled with good, Godly counsel to help us. Then, in our Exodus reading, we see that Moses' father-in-law is a wise man who gives good advice. We see also that Moses is a wise man who takes good counsel when he hears it.

Read Proverbs 14:1-17

Read Exodus 18

Today's story of Moses and his father-in-law Jethro brought to mind a few Proverbs that we read a few days ago. From 11:14, "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." And from 13:1, "A wise son hears his father’s instruction" (or father-in-law's instruction).

Indeed, Moses receives good counsel, and he is smart enough to listen. Certainly, all the squabbles of the children of Israel would quickly have worn Moses out. Think about that - one judge for a nation (albeit a small nation) of people! The more disputes would have arisen, the longer the wait to see Moses would have been! And poor Moses would never have a break!

So we see that things like organization, dispensing of responsibilities, and all sorts of human arrangements fall within the area of Christian freedom. We are free to use our God-given, sanctified brains to figure out the best way to accomplish a task. We do this all the time in work, in our families, and even in the church.

Sometimes, however, we feel stuck. Which way to turn? How many options do we have? Would any one of a number of paths be acceptable? How do you know?

I'd love to give you (and myself) a simple 3 step process for always figuring out the best way to do things, but there isn't one. But what we see in Proverbs, and what we see today in Exodus 18 is that good, Godly, sound counsel may be the area. So, maybe it is time to pick up the phone and call that experienced, knowledgeable, honest, Christian person whom you respect and talk to them.

And in the end, after we have made the best decision we can, we leave it all in God's hands. Things might go completely the opposite way we expect. And we have to expect God still to rule over all things in our lives. So, we do our best, but ultimately we leave success up to God. We let him define it. We let him bring it about.

Things in this life may not always turn out as "good" as we hope. But as redeemed children of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, we can always look forward to a better tomorrow, a beautiful, perfect, eternal tomorrow with our Lord and with one another. May God strengthen me to live for him until I get there!

Ask Yourself:

What areas of my life are struggles now? I could use advice to speak to what situations in my life?

To whom can I go for advice? Father, mother? Brother, Sister? Pastor, Christian friend? Other?

Have I gotten good advice and things still didn't turn out as I hoped? What do I do about that?

Pray:

Lord, sometimes it is hard for me to know the right way. Sometimes more than one way lies before us, but seemingly with pros and cons. Which way is the right way to go? Give me wisdom, Lord, that I might make a moral and pure decisions, and also one that makes sense. Help me to find the right people to talk to, and help me to know and heed good advice when I hear it. Help me most of all to remember that you are guiding me, you are leading me, you are protecting me from evil, and you are with me every step of the way. Amen.

Study with me tomorrow,

Pastor Jon

Soli Deo Gloria!