Need a Counselor?

This world is overwhelming and confusing to say the least.  We all could use a dependable counselor.  There are numerous voices competing to tell us what we need to do.  One of the greatest things we can have in this life is someone to guide us on our journey.  We need a "wonderful Counselor".  Isaiah 9:6  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

There are several characteristics of a wonderful counselor.  (I have been to many, so I have an advantage here.)  First, they must show great mercy, mixed with truth.  Luke 6:36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."  Psalm 51:6 "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart."  Second, one must have great wisdom.  James 3:17 "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." James 1:5 " If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." Proverbs 2:6 "For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."  A proven track record always helps us feel more comfortable about going to a counselor.  Jesus freed Mary Magdalene.  Luke 8:2 "Also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out."  I know He has kept me from allowing an entire host of demons to be let out on a few people (hormones).  He also destroyed selfishness and greed in Zacchaeus.  Luke 19:8-10 "But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”  Some counselors can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk.  Most of us want someone who has a strong testimony.  Hebrews 4:15-16  "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  Finally, we want someone who can feel our pain and show empathy.  Isaiah 53:3-4 " He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering."

Our Wonderful Counselor instructs us through His Spirit and His word.  We hope for jobs, godly spouses for our children, economic stability, peace in our world and for many things in our personal lives.  We can hope for so many things in this life but none will hold firm.   Lewis Smedes says this about these hopes:  "One day every circumstance, every situation we are hoping for is going to wear out, give out, fall apart, melt down, or go away.  (Health goes, jobs go, family changes, churches come and go.)  When that happens, the question is about your deeper hope - your foundational hope - it's about your fall-back hope when all your other hopes pass."  Put your hope in the Lord - know Him, trust Him and love Him.