Tag: Godly Counsel

A person sits across a table from a wise, caring mentor figure who is speaking earnestly and gesturing gently. The seated person has their arms crossed, jaw set, eyes slightly averted — clearly hearing the words but internally resisting them. Warm, soft lighting. The mood is intimate and a little uncomfortable. The advice-giver's expression is kind, not harsh. Painterly, editorial illustration style with muted warm tones and a slight chiaroscuro quality. No text.

The Offense of Good Advice

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“Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, ‘Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.’ But Naaman got angry and left, saying, ‘I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the skin disease. Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?’ So he turned and left in a rage.” (2 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭CSB – Read the chapter) ‬‬

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about good advice. When we set out accomplish we haven’t done before and aren’t totally sure how to do it, it’s always a good idea to seek out good and wise counsel from someone who has been there before. The trouble with good advice, though, is that just because a particular bit of advice is good, doesn’t mean we necessarily like it or want to hear it. Let’s reflect for a little while today about a story when someone got good advice they didn’t like, and what wisdom that might have to offer us.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 18:13-18

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“The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, ‘What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?’ Moses replied to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come to me to inquire of God. Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God’s statutes and laws.’ ‘What you’re doing is not good,’ Moses’s father-in-law said to him. ‘You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had someone tell you that you were wrong? Let me be more specific. Have you ever had someone tell you that you were wrong who was in such a position in your life that you were willing to trust their counsel, listen to their perspective, and genuinely consider making changes in light of their observations? One of those life truths that we know is true, but don’t care all that much to think about its being true, and which we certainly don’t want to hear from someone else that it is true is that we don’t do everything right all the time. Because of this, we need people in our lives willing to tell us. Let’s talk today about Moses’ experience with this and how it went.

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