LESSONS FROM PROVERBS (2)
Many persons would have been saved from quite a number of issues if they had just spoken with someone before making the decisions they made; before starting the business, before going into the relationship they went into, before investing into that venture, before buying the car, etc. The list is endless but one thing to note is that one of the reasons for the so many problems people face is because many times, they fail to seek counsel especially from people who can help them. Praise God.
Haven't people lost their homes, their money and almost anything one can think of either as a result of lack of counsel or a very poor counsel? What therefore do we refer to as counsel? Simply put, it is a wise advice or suggestion that enables one do the right thing. Well, this meaning could only be used for what we may refer to as positive counsels. There are negative counsels even as there are positive counsels. Some persons counsel to do mischief; an example is Jonadab when he told Amnon to behave as though he was sick so the king could send his half sister, Tamar to him ( see 2 Samuel 13 ), while others counsel to do right. Hallelujah. However, our context of counsel is what we may refer to as positive or godly counsel. Praise God!
Read: How the devil made sure I was hell-headed on full speed
God has deposited into men sound wisdom such that that when they speak, they speak as God would have spoken. In other words, they speak the mind of God as it were such that the one who comes to them gets to know the right thing to do. Sometimes, that which we seek to hear from God, he sends men to speak to us. The issue however is that we have many times jettisoned the wisdom of the such men and their counsels and the other is that we have altogether failed to acknowledge God given wisdom in men. Praise God. Let's see the text below:
"Where no counsel is , the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14).
Such was the counsel of Ahithophel that king David feared when he heard that Absalom his son had asked Ahithophel to be his counsellor. David even prayed that God would turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness ( 2 Samuel 15:31). Do you know why David prayed that way? It is captured in the next chapter,
"And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom" (2 Samuel 16:23).
Why would Absalom want such a man? Because he had seen his counsel in action while he was with his Father, David. He knew perhaps that where no counsel is, the people fall but in the multitude of counsellors, there's safety especially with one as Ahithophel and as many as him. Absolom in this regard was wise. He didn't want to disregard the place of counsel even in doing the wrong thing. That is what today's lesson seeks to explain to us. The fact that people get into a whole lot of trouble without good counsel. Some don't even seek it.
This is an exhortation not to despise the place of counsel in wanting to make crucial decisions in life as believers. Also, in seeking for counsels, let's seek counsel from people with the knowledge, fear and Spirit of God such that they speak nothing but the mind of God to us when we go to them. It is true that in multitudes of counsellors, there's safety but only when such persons fear God and are ruled by his Spirit. Let's not despise counsels but also that we be discerning enough to know what counsel is of God and what is not of God. The Lord help us in Jesus' name.
Gospel Today is a comforting, exhorting, edifying and inspiring devotional published by the Delightsome Land Christian Ministry. For questions, enquiries/testimonies, please call/WhatsApp: 08174915361, 08161655758 or Email: [email protected]
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