THE PHONE OR THE THRONE?

“Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advise.” Proverbs 20:18

When you are faced with a situation where you feel the need to act, where do you turn first? Is your first response to contact a wise friend or knowledgeable person to seek an opinion and counsel? Or do you turn to God for direction?

My first inclination is to phone a wise friend, family member of counselor, spew forth the details that I haven’t even gathered yet and asked for direction without ever considering to pray first. I have totally left God out of the decision—no matter how swiftly I felt I might have to act.

Each of us operates most of the time from our perception of a situation—which is usually based solely on past experience. But, perception is not usually reality. Satan paints a wrong picture of what is really happening because he is the King of Deception. This can bring undo fear that, in turn, creates unnecessary paranoia. Action from paranoia is never wise. Action from the base of reality is wisdom.

How do we discover reality? Our first line of defense is to pray for clarity. Then we seek answers by asking questions. Many of us would rather assume we know what is going on rather than ask the necessary questions to bring forth th facts. The best place to begin questioning is with the person we believe is doing the thing that we feel is bringing harm. Give that person a chance to explain his actions. Once we have the facts, we can seek wise counsel from that friend, family member or knowledgeable person. Then we can act.

My goal these days is to seek the throne with my adviser before I seek her advice. Then I am wisely prepared to go forth in the battle.