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Encouraging Men Along Life's Journey January 28, 2013
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God In The Marketplace
GOOD IDEA VS A GOD IDEA - Seeking Advise
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed. Proverbs 15:22
One of the hardest things for some of us men is to ask for advise. We come up with an idea and we begin to envision how it is going to come about with great success. Asking advise to some indicates weakness. Therefore, we go ahead with our idea and our pride held tightly. We pursued our idea only later to give anything if we had asked others for their advise.
God wants us to know more than we sometimes want to know. "For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2: 6. God wants us to know not only His will for us in a situation, but as the next verse states, "He holds victory in store for the upright." We have the opportunity everyday to make the right decisions on our ideas. Every day we either live in, or, out of God's will for our lives. God desires the biggest return on His investment in us, but He can only obtain that when we are able to discern a good idea from a God idea,
In order to know if our idea is a God idea, we must first know what the Bible has to say concerning any principles that might apply. God's direction for us will never contradict His principles. A friend brought an idea he had to our Bible study a few years ago for our advise. His idea had great potential in that it concerned a situation that was rising rapidly in the market at the time. In order for him to launch the project, he would have to bring in a partner who he knew very little about. It also required that he borrow a lot of money. I could tell that his zeal for this idea was much stronger than his willingness to seek out wisdom. We met a few times and each time we would consider a principle from the scripture that merited his consideration. Even with his passion for the project running wild, he was finally able to discern, that even though it was a good idea, it was not something God would want him to do. The cost was just to great.
In looking at any idea, we also must be willing to abandon our pride as we seek and listen to wise people. (Proverbs 22: 17) I can remember back when a few friends and I were in a meeting with some other men in the community. We were but young whippersnappers just starting out in our careers. As we looked around the room, we recognized some of the more successful men in the community. Each one of us would make a comment on how we wished we had their money or success. Finally, one person commented after some thought - "I don't envy their success, but I do envy their wisdom."
We have the tendency to try and figure out God's idea through our emotions and feelings. How many times have we heard someone say, " I felt this was what God wanted me to do." That may be okay after much prayer, studying His word, and seeking Godly counsel. but only after that. Any time we seek advice from someone, we must be sure they are trustworthy. Can we trust them with our decision? Making sure they have all the facts in the situation will also help assure a wiser decision. At times we want to hold back some details because we know this information will hinder the support we want. The wisest and most experienced folks generally have the best advice. But more than all these, we need to seek people who are spiritually minded. (Proverbs 21: 22)
Finally, we must be seeking and willing to follow the Holy Spirit's prompting.(John 10:27) There is a difference between emotions and the Holy Spirit. Emotions can come from undeserved guilt, unresolved anger, uncontrolled ego, or an unrealized goal. None of which brings peace. Only the Holy Spirit can bring that peace that we know, that we know, we have a God idea. It requires a daily walk, and a constant seeking and abiding with the One who desires to give us His answer. The will of God and His ideas for us will never take away that inner peace.(Psalm 119: 165)
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