Wonderful Counselor

Psalm 32: 8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

This is personal. It’s from God to you. He is telling you that He will give you personal counsel. That is why He says He will counsel you with His eye upon you. There is advice that is good for everyone and which applies to everyone. That is not what this verse is about. This is about giving you daily instruction in the way you should go. Our Father is offering to give you step by step instructions for your plans and your goals. The Passion Translation reads, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide.” We can see from this version that Yahweh wants to be your partner. He wants to walk with you daily.

Here is the rub, though. How are you at hearing His voice? Okay, here is another question, if God is going to instruct and guide us along our specific life path, then why do we spend so much time worrying and thinking about the choices before us. Yahweh will tell us which choice leads to our goal. He knows what we want and how best to get there. Truly, I find myself thinking that we waste a lot of time thinking about things that are a waste. We could use that time to seek God and get the answers freely. We’re wasting too much time trying to do what God will do for us. This is one of the reasons we find ourselves so busy. We aren’t doing our job and we do not allow God to do His.

If we would dedicate ourselves to seeking God daily, I think we would all find that some of the complexity of life would be alleviated. Much of the drama would disappear and we would live in much greater peace and joy. We wouldn’t be so busy because our Father would show us the ways we should spend our time and He would show us how to proceed in the most timely way. Also, if we spent more time seeking Him and listening for His voice instead of running out the door we would learn to hear His voice better. Sometimes we don’t hear Him because we aren’t listening. Sometimes it is a result of having not spent time learning to hear Him. Either way, He speaks quietly and we must learn to listen in the quiet times of our life.

I have learned that we always have the time to do the things we want to do. For example, we don’t skip a lot of meals, we find the time for them. Our YMCA is packed in the wee hours of the morning. These folks have found time to get their workout in before work. Their dedication impresses me. Perhaps we need to have the same level of dedication towards our Lord.

However, if we truly do not have time to spend with our Father, then it may be that we have too many things on our plate. Sometimes wisdom says we have to eliminate something from our schedule. For myself, I find that I must be more efficient with the time I have. I need ponder time, time just to sit quietly with the Father and ruminate over the things He has been showing me. I cannot do that if I am busy running around all day. So, I try to coordinate my to do’s and errands so that I can get a couple of birds at a time. You may have developed strategies like that too. The bottom line is, our God is daily attempting to lead us in very specific ways that will benefit us. We must be able to hear Him, and we just have to spend time with Him. What good is a mentor or a coach if you never spend any time with them? Carve out some time, every day, to listen to the Father. Get out your pen and journal what He says to you. He is going to save you time and effort if you listen to Him.