It’s a Journey … Is that Person prepared to counsel you?

So the bible tells us that one day Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, was made king. Soon thereafter, there was trouble; some people wanted serious tax cut. Rehoboam first sought counsel from the men that sat with his father who advised that he cut the taxes. He then sought counsel from his friends who counseled contrary to that of the elderly men. He accepted the counsel of his friends and lost half the kingdom. It was not only lost to him but to generations yet unborn who were entitled to the kingdom. 

Interestingly, I do not doubt the sincerity of Rehoboam’s friends in the counsel they gave. They were most likely friends because they perceived life similarly. Again I guess they would not have wanted to lose the benefits they enjoyed as the king’s friends. Any loss the king suffered would have translated to loss for them. I do not think that facilitating the loss of a portion of the kingdom would have been their desire since it might jeopardize their relationship. It was just unfortunate that they had not been prepared to counsel on matters relating to governance; all they wanted was for their friend to be happy.

However, God had, as He always does, placed around Rehoboam people He had prepared to support him with wise counsel. When God brings us into a role, He provides all we need to succeed in it; it then is our responsibility to identify and pay attention to those He has placed around us to help us fulfill purpose in that role. The truth is such people are never perfect and don’t often say or act in ways we would like them to. The men that sat with Solomon probably watched Rehoboam grow up so may not have treated him with the respect he felt was due to him but they had what he needed – wise counsel. Such people will never be perfect neither are they there to be what you like, but what God would have them be to you.

John 2: “But his mother told the servants, do whatever he tells you.”

When Jesus was working out the provision of wine at the wedding in Cana, he was not the nicest person. He instructed without any explanation. That can be annoying and anyway, how did they know that the water would become wine? There may have been people there counseling them to buy more wine fast which they could have done since they had no idea how Jesus was going to produce wine from water but thank God they accepted Mary’s counsel. Not only did they get wine, they got the best for which the groom was honored. Wise counsel releases honor. Never blame the person the gives you wrong counsel; you accepted it because it appealed to something in you. If you have the Holy Spirit, you can tell when counsel is not right even when you do not know what the correct thing is.

We have to be more careful now than we have ever been. Marriages are breaking up; believers are getting poorer and even dying because of bad decisions and all because they sought and obtained counsel from people who are ill equipped to counsel them. “when you feel the need to talk to a being you can see and relate with, which is why you want to talk to somebody; you must be careful to choose that person that God has prepared to talk to you in that particular situation.” Excerpts from “It’s a Journey” (my new book). To get a copy, please call the numbers beside the book on this blog. It’s a companion as fit for your journey of life in Christ.