importance of godly counsel

Life is hard in many ways, but one way in particular is discerning how God would have you to use your time (and all other resources). I really struggle with this one because as most of you know, I think that everything sounds fun and worthy of time spent on it. Plus, our culture is so full of good ways to use your time that it makes it really hard to pick the few best things out of all the good things. And then to know also that it might not be right for you even if it's right for your friend. Fact is that it's often harder to know the right path even though your intentions are pure and you want to honor the Lord.

I am finishing up my current ministry role after two years and have been floundering a little to know where God would have me devote my time after this role ends. I have enjoyed the peace of knowing my ministry role and always feel a little flustered if that's in question, which is the case now. I am praying, but like I said, everything sounds fun and sometimes I think it would take God speaking through a burning bush to get my attention to point me to the best out of all the options.

But, I was reminded today that God created me and knows my issues - thus why he put a godly husband and some precious women who adore the Lord around me to keep me from saying yes to something that doesn't make sense for me. A friend counseled me a couple of weeks ago that I shouldn't even consider a specific ministry because she didn't think I had the bandwidth to tackle the relational responsibilities. I listened, but kind of just played it off thinking that I had way more relational connectors than she was aware of and could handle it just fine. I did pause though and realize that I hadn't prayed about it at all nor had I given Keith time to pray about it and share his wisdom. So...long story short (ok, I know it's already long..sorry!), Keith came to me on Thursday evening and said he really didn't think it was wise for me to take on this particular ministry - basically citing the same reasons my friend did. And then, today I went to a baby shower and the lady who is head over the particular ministry stopped me to say that they had all their spots full anyways! Wow...so God didn't speak through a burning bush to me, but He did speak through the wise counsel of both Keith and Mary.

Here's the point of this posting - if you don't have godly counsel around you - get some! Proverbs 13:20 says, "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." My husband and my friends do such a phenomenal job in pushing me to trust God and to honor Him in all that I do. I might be a pastor's wife, but I'm still a sinner who can quickly make a mess of things if I try to go the course alone and trust in my own opinions. Jada, Mary, Kendall, Laura, Tomi..these ladies get to see my messiness more than others and do such a sweet job of challenging me in different ways. Thanks, ladies!

And if you are a friend - be a wise friend. It's not healthy for us to always say what our friends want to hear or to just affirm them. The most important characteristic of a wise friend though is that they're pursuing God themselves through reading the Bible and praying. It's way too easy to fall back to our own fallible opinions if we're not constantly seeking the Lord.

These verses remind me that sometimes we need to encourage and sometimes we need to be more of a spur for our friend - and spurs don't feel good at first, but they help to keep us moving in the right direction!

Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.