The Best Advice - Day 238 Month 8-25 Week 34-7
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
1 Kings 12, Proverbs 23:25-35, Ezekiel 34, 2 Corinthians 1
The Best Advice
“The young men who grew up with him spoke to him…” (1 Kings 12:10).
King Rehoboam was the son of the wisest king. Unfortunately, he did not learn from his fathers wise teaching and chose to listen to his friends rather than the wisdom of the elders. As a result, he lost a large portion of his kingdom.
I heard a story the other day that I’m sure was fictional. A husband and wife were discussing whether to have another child. The woman wanted another child and the man did not. The man went to a minister for advice. The minister's advice to the man was, “Now may be the time for a discussion of spiritual headship in the home.” Now if you are a husband reading this, you are probably cringing at this moment, recognizing how that discussion would go in your home. If you are a wife reading this, I imagine you are thinking about how the prison time may not be so bad for manslaughter.
Getting advice is a wise thing to do especially when you have an important decision to make. King Rehoboam talked first to the elders who served Solomon and then chose the advice of his friends.
I have often looked for advice on different decisions. As a former technical director and facility manager, I learned to work with consultants that were specialists in the projects I was working on. Audio systems are a prime example. There are many people who sell sound systems and provide great quality equipment. Many of those people will also design a sound system for your specific purpose. However, there was always a concern, in the back of my mind, that someone who is selling their own design may be more motivated at selling a product than installing the right item. When a consultant is hired, that consultant works for you. They design a sound system for your application and provide all required information to ensure the sound system is installed properly. A good consultant also comes back to the job at the end of the project to ensure everything has been installed according to their design and tests the function of the system. The consultant's reputation is at risk if the system does not work as they claimed it would.
When getting advice on important decisions in life, sometimes we need to investigate who is the best to seek advice from. From the earlier story, it did not hurt to talk to a minister, but the man would also be wise to talk to other men, and even trusted women, who have been through this discussion before and can provide advice based on experience.
In King Rehoboam’s case, the elders who originally advised him were likely the better choice for advice. Their advice was better in this situation, because they understood the kingdom, understood the people and recommended servant leadership.
As a Jesus follower, I will also seek advice in many life situations. My first place for finding advice is in prayer and reading scripture. Sometimes God answers my prayer very simply in scripture, sometimes scripture gives me insight into the character of God that helps me make a decision that is in keeping with His character. I also seek the advice of other people who I trust. Sometimes if my motivation is wrong, it can cloud my judgement and I can potentially make any scripture agree with my motivation. Fellow Jesus followers who are not afraid to question my motives are the most effective advisors. Unfortunately, I sometimes don’t seek their advice and often find an undesirable outcome that could have been avoided.
Rehoboam had good advice available to him, but he chose the advice that told him what he wanted to hear. I don't want to make the same mistake. Sometimes the best advice is not the advice that makes me feel good about my decision, but the advice that makes me stop and reconsider it.
Have a great day!
Steve
You can subscribe to this blog and receive an email each day or week. Just visit the following link. https://follow.it/my-faith-view-from-here-daily-readings-and-thoughts?leanpub
Comments
Post a Comment