Counseling

More from Eldredge today.  I have often wanted to walk through life figuring it out as I go and not really listening to outside counsel.  I've lived too often telling God what the plan was and how he fit into it.  I was giving God a role in my plan instead of realizing that I had a role in God's plan.  I tried to get out ahead of God but He is smarter than me so He gave me a counselor for when I was ready to listen.  Praise God!

This from John Eldredge's Waking the Dead:

Our life is a story. A rather long and complicated story that has unfolded over time. There are many scenes, large and small, and many “firsts.” Your first step; your first word; your first day of school. There was your first best friend; your first recital; your first date; your first love; your first kiss; your first heartbreak. If you stop and think of it, your heart has lived through quite a story thus far. And over the course of that story your heart has learned many things. Some of what you learned is true; much of it is not. Not when it comes to the core questions about your heart and the heart of God. Is your heart good? Does your heart really matter? What has life taught you about that? Imagine for a moment that God is walking softly beside you. You sense his presence, feel his warm breath. He says, “Tell me your sorrows.” What would you say in reply?

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17). Come again? How would you feel if your spouse or a friend said to you, “I think you need some counseling, and so I’ve arranged for it. You start tomorrow; it’ll probably take years”? I’ve got five bucks that says you’d get more than a little defensive. The combination of our pride—I don’t need any therapy, thank you very much—and the fact that it’s become a profession—Freud and Prozac and all that—has kept most of us from realizing that, in fact, we do need counseling. All of us. Jesus sends us his Spirit as Counselor; that ought to make it clear. In fact, we apparently need quite a lot of counsel—the Spirit isn’t just stopping in to give us a tune-up; not even an annual checkup. He has come to stay.  

Today, I'm definitely more aware of the power of counseling in my life and I cannot thank God enough for giving me all that I need in the Holy Spirit.

Grace and peace to you.