Get Advice From God
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test
the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world. – 1 John 4:1
I have developed a really sensitive button over the
last few months. It comes from having way too many people give way too much “advice”
based on their desires for my life. Some would call them busybodies. Or nosy.
Or people with too much time on their hands.
I struggle to remind myself that most of them have
good intentions. It is a struggle though. How do they expect me to respond when
it seems as though most of them don’t think I’ve capable of making my own
decisions and refuse to respect my choices?
Don’t get me wrong. We all need advice sometimes. And
we all need to surround ourselves with wise people. But what none of us need
are other people trying to run our lives because they’ve failed so miserably at
their own. Nor do we need people trying to force us to do something that will
benefit them. All for us, of course.
When I need advice do you know who I turn to first?
God. Yes. That’s right. I pray to the Holy One who has all the answers. He’s my
confidant. He’s the One who knows me better than anyone else. And He’s the One
who truly knows what is best for me.
Have you ever tried telling someone who is giving you
unsolicited “advice” that you are praying about it? That never goes over well. People who are truly prayer warriors, who truly seek what God’s will is for your life, won’t spend their time telling you what to do. They don’t give their
unwanted opinions. They don’t assume they have all the answers. And they
recognize that God knows best.
I have one friend who desperately wants a beach house.
She dreams about it. That’s her ultimate goal. Unfortunately, her husband detests
the beach so it’s not going to happen. Guess what she wants me to do? Buy a
beach house because it will make “me” happy.
I have another friend who never misses an opportunity
to tell me to sell the cows. I like the cows most of the time. I grew up around
cows. I helped my Dad with them. In recent years, I mostly was the one who
cared for them. It is a connection to my Dad. I don’t want to sell them. I don’t
expect anyone else to understand that fact. I do expect others to respect my decision
and to stop talking about it.
What is someone insisting that you do for “your own
good”? One friend laughing tells how her daughter got upset with her when she
refused to quit her job to keep her grandchildren so her daughter could work
and the kids wouldn’t have to be in daycare. Her daughter’s reasoning? Well,
you don’t need the money. Yeah. Belt-tightening can be a good thing, especially
if it’s someone else making the sacrifices.
I’ve learned over the years to run things by God.
Maybe He does want me to do something, or not do something, someone else is
advising. Or maybe the issue isn’t about me at all. A good tipoff is when I
offer to pray about it, and the person insists I don’t need to do that.
Always seek wise counsel from God. Those who love
Jesus and truly have your best interests in mind will understand and respect
your final decision. The ones who don’t understand and respect your decision,
well, maybe a little distance would be the wiser course.
No comments:
Post a Comment