Did you know you already have a counselor?

As I was reading my bible today, the Lord brought something to my attention. It was something I was already aware of, and yet I wasn't aware of how prevalent it was in His Word. The Lord tells us over and over again, that He is our counselor and wants us to come to Him when we need counsel. One of my favorite verses is the one in Isaiah where he's talking about Jesus and the Names of God and tells us that one of his Names is, "wonderful counselor". I can certainly vouch for that! You'll never, ever find a better one, that's for sure! What had gone right over my head though, until today, was another fact I knew. That one of the Names for the Holy Spirit is also "counselor"! So I started searching His Word for verses that spoke of God being a counselor to us and was amazed at how many there are. I doubt if I've found them all yet, but I've found well over 20 of them already!

I'll have to look up another thing too, because I also found a bunch of them that said not to take "men's counsel", or the "counsel of the wicked", etc. Oh, I'm sure none of us would ever seek out a wicked person to be a counselor though! Or do we, without realizing it? I just looked up what the word "wicked" translates from in the original language from here: Psalm 1:1 —Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. * That word is also generally translated as the "ungodly", or "unbelievers", hostile to God, guilty of sin, etc. Who's hostile to God though? We wouldn't go see someone that hated God certainly... but God says that all unbelievers are his enemies, and that their minds and hearts are hostile to Him; He tells us that we were like that before we were saved too. (Romans 5:10; Romans 8:7; James 4:4; Colossians 1:21) So not walking in the counsel of the wicked is actually saying not to accept counsel from any who are unbelievers!

Come to think of it though, I could even start a third list of scriptures, for I already know there are many scriptures that say that it's the believers who are mature in their faith that are to offer counsel to others, and that it's to them that we're to go to when we need help and feel the need to speak to another human and not just to God. The reason for that is pretty clear though. Generally most of us don't feel comfortable just talking to God and getting His counsel until we have become mature in our faith. Up till then, we generally still question if what we're "hearing" is from the Lord or not, so we need another believer to confirm it and help us learn to hear from Him.

Ultimately though, as we grow in our faith, we find that God is truly the perfect and very best counselor we could ever have or want; just as He's the very best teacher we could ever want. I would like to mention one other thing though that we often misunderstand about becoming mature in our faith. At least I did for a long time. We never stop learning. When someone becomes mature in their faith, that doesn't mean that they're done growing, or learning. Far from it! What it means is that they fully understand the basics of God's Word. They know what they believe and why they believe it. And most of all, they've got such a close relationship with the Lord that they know Him well. God still has much to show them and teach them, but they know Him and are at peace following Him. Hearing from Him is no longer a struggle, and no longer brings up doubts. They're very familiar with His voice and with His Word.

It's God's Will for every believer to become mature in their faith. That's not reserved for a special or favored few. When I say it's "God's Will" of course that mean it's something He expects of each of us.

Another thing I've found is that often people seem to link being mature in their faith as bragging or being a know it all, and certainly no one wants that kind of label. That's because the church has done such a horrid job of teaching believers though. So many seem to think that only pastors can be "mature in their faith". Sadly today though, many pastors aren't anywhere near being mature in their faith, and some are out right unbelievers! Other people link being mature in faith to being a senior citizen, as though that maturity comes with age. Yet Timothy who was quite young compared to the apostles, was quite mature in his faith, so we know that's not true. Maturity comes with time yes, because it takes time to learn and get to know the Lord, but if you start young, you can certainly become mature in your faith at a very young age. Being mature in faith has nothing to do with getting degrees from a school, church, or organization; nor does it have to do with being ordained by a church. The only thing maturity in faith requires is someone who's willing to spend time with the Lord in His Word every day. That plus time will eventually lead to maturity.

And again, that doesn't mean the person knows everything, they don't. It simply means they're not babies anymore and that they know enough to be able to help others discover the answers that the Lord has for them. They understand that wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment come from knowing the Lord. They're able to trust Him to give them the words they need to help others, which is why the bible calls them to counsel other members of the body of Christ. So they counsel others, knowing that really they're just helping the other person get to the point where they know longer need them and can go straight to the Lord themselves.

Let me share some of my favorite scriptures about this with you:

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. *
Isaiah 11:2 —The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— *
Isaiah 28:29 —All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom. *
Job 12:13 —“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
Psalm 32:8 —I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. *

I love this one too as it shows how much better His counsel is:

Job 12:17 —He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges. *
Psalm 33:10–11 —The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. *The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. *

more of my favorites:
John 14:16–17 —And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— *the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. *
Psalm 119:24 —Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors. *
Psalm 16:7 —I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. *
Psalm 73:24 —You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. *

and so many more, but I'll stop for now.