Advice Ignored

I’ve been the recipient of good advice on many occasions. I have also ignored good advice because it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It turns out that good advice and good counsel go hand in hand. I believe the advice given is only as good as the credentials and the experience of the one giving the advice UNLESS they have access to someone with stronger credentials and more experience. Advice from another is optional – I can choose to ignore.

I’ve also served as the advice giver. As a parent, I give my children advice and counsel often when they are young. I give it out without it being asked for which probably feels more like a command than anything else. There were times I gave my children “advice” that should be careful NOT to ignore.

The Lord gives advice many times through the Word. He uses prophets, priests, kings, shepherds and many others who were willing to be used by Him. Jeremiah was one such advice giver and his advice came straight from the Lord. After being put in a damp muddy cistern because some of the leaders didn’t like his advice, Jeremiah is brought to the king for a private conversation. Check this out…

14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.” (Jeremiah 38:14-16 NIV)

The best advice givers are people who actually believe and practice the advice they are giving out. The best advice givers actually hear from the Lord. I want the Lord to advise me every day. I want Him to use whoever He wants to speak into my life. It takes deep discernment to sort through the sources of advice from others. If it lines up with the Word and the principles and truth found there, I’m inclined to listen more intently.

The number one advice giver in my life is the Lord. His Holy Spirit speaks into my heart as I walk with Him through His Word. He speaks and I listen and act upon that counsel. I don’t ever want to ignore His advice.

Pressing On!

Dwayne