wisdom & wise counsel

Have you ever felt reluctant to ask another for wisdom? Has there been an area of your life where you’ve felt hesitant or even fearful to ask for guidance? Perhaps, you have trudged through on your own, believing that you can ‘do it yourself’ and have the ability to make the right decision. Maybe someone has even provided you with advice and it has only developed feelings of frustration within you. 

But in all of these situations, perhaps you know that what you are doing, thinking, planning etc. is wrong or rooted in fleshly desires and THAT is why you are hiding it and avoiding others. We must look at the fruit and if there is any shame, condemnation, division, fear or confusion, the enemy is keeping you in chains.

Proverbs 1:7 (KJV) says,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The enemy wants to keep us in a place where we become self-reliant, isolated and prideful. He wants us to be the leaders of our own lives. But walking alone is very dangerous. As when we walk alone, we are able to hide things in darkness. And in the darkness, evil has the opportunity to grow. 

The truth is, we do not have the complete capability to make wise choices 100% of the time. We mess up. We make mistakes and we can become blind sighted by certain influences, desires or shortcomings. 

I have been praying recently for the Lord to develop within me a greater fear of Him. The fear of the Lord does not involve the fear that we know, which is defined as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.”

Instead, the fear of the Lord is an awe and reverence to Him. It involves developing such a love for Him that we WANT to obey and submit ourselves to Him. It is a greater awareness of His Holiness and our unholiness and recognising that we NEED a holy and pure God leading us.

When we fear the Lord, we want to please Him and we come under submission to Him. Hence, we become more easily led by His Spirit to listen and make wise decisions. When we are led by the Spirit, we will welcome, seek and desire wise counsel. That is, the advice from trusted mentors and friends. 

However, if we are led by the flesh - which is under the influence of Satan - we will despise wisdom and avoid seeking advice from others. If we receive it, we will grow frustrated and harsh. 

But as it says, it is foolish to despise wisdom and instruction, as being led by the Lord and taking a humble position to receive guidance from others will build us, lead us on good paths and allow us to bear more fruit. Without wisdom and instruction, we will be led down a path of destruction, caused by our own foolish nature and inability to make wise decisions.

We are NOT meant to walk alone and wise counsel is a NECESSARY component of living a fruitful life.