Proverbs 20:18-19 Good Advisors
Solomon speaks of seeking advice from GOOD advisors. It is too easy to go down the wrong path when you don’t ask for advice. Bad advisors are worse than none at all.
War is a SERIOUS business. This is an area that Solomon didn’t have to worry about. God gave Israel peace under his rule. I have no doubt that he still took time to hone his army. David already had them in great fighting shape but those who fought beside him were quite old or had already died. Solomon wasn’t starting from scratch here but he had work to do; just in case.
NO good leader commits his troops to battle without first consulting others. He asks for their counsel and opinions on his plans. “Is this an offense/situation where we should intervene?” “How should we handle it?” “War? Sanctions? Special operations?” All these are questions that have to be answered before the first boots hit the ground; before the first official word is announced.
These decisions are too weighty for one man alone to make them. They affect the lives of THOUSANDS! However, who you choose to ask for advice is as important as seeking it in the first place. Our President wouldn’t seek advice from the janitor on strategic planning. He would seek the best qualified men in the field. He would also choose the ones with the best reputation. Those who are NOT prone to gossip or can be turned by bribes. Counsel or even conversation with such men can sink the endeavor before it even gets underway. “Lose lips sink ships!”
In our world it doesn’t take much for plans to wind up on the front page. The media AND cell phones are EVERYWHERE. Privacy is pretty much a thing of the past. But the worst part of such ‘openness’ is that there is bias in ALL of it. The news casters who highlight their point of view instead of balanced reports. The ‘camera footage’ that begins and is cut at just the right moment. These kinds of reports can do more harm than good.
When my ex-husband was in the Gulf War, I was ENRAGED with the news media! There was 24 hour news coverage and many of the reporters were embedded with the troops. And they highlighted specific troops. My ex-husband was with one of the deciding weapons of that war and CNN was doing everything they could to ‘interview’ them. I would scream at the television, “Don’t you realize that the other forces are monitoring your coverage too?” His unit had to be constantly on the move and sometimes hidden within other troops to avoid the media’s ‘thirst for knowledge’. My ex shared many such stories with me upon his return. It took me YEARS to watch any kind of news again.
War is not the only endeavor one should seek advice for. Changes in job, buying a home, choosing a new car, which college to attend, and many other major decisions in life are made with even a little bit of advice. In a marriage, the husband and wife should be making these decisions together. These kinds of decisions affect more than one person so others should have an opportunity to weigh in.
My grandfather on my mother’s side was famous for making snap decisions that the whole family had to live with. He would get angry about something at his job and just quit. No concern for others, no opportunity to address the issue, just walk off the job and never return. This meant that his family moved around a lot. It made it hard for his children to develop lasting relationships and brought constant uncertainty into the home. They never knew if this would be the day he blew his top, again. Children, and adults, need some kind of ‘structure’ they can depend on in order to thrive.
The MOST IMPORTANT Authority you should be seeking advice from is God. HE knows what tomorrow holds. He know what each change will mean to your life. His vote counts MORE than all the rest combined. The thing here is that you need to consult Him, or at least talk with Him, regarding the easy decisions in life before You bring Him the BIG ones. The reason I say this is because we need to learn to recognize the voice of our Father BEFORE we ask for His input on the major decisions. If we aren’t familiar with the voice of the Father then any voice can be mistaken for His. And the WRONG voice can lead you into dangerous territory!
Father God, I KNOW You are my ultimate authority on all my decisions. I admit that I’m not always sure I’ve heard Your voice instead of my own. I KNOW You speak to me but I’m afraid of not truly hearing or listening. Help me to KNOW Your voice. Speak to me in the little things, so that when the big ones come, I can have confidence in knowing Your voice. Thank You Father for ALWAYS being my counsel, even if I had to check it through ‘fleece laying’ to know fur sure.
