How often do you consult the Lord? Do you seek His counsel at the onset of every situation? Many seek His counsel occasionally and in most cases seek it in haste. The weight of the situation or the lack of practice in seeking Him does not allow them to patiently consult Him. Others seek Him, but for the sake of fulfilling their desires while still others regret not taking His counsel. Taking the Lord’s counsel for every situation proves His wisdom is greater than ours and the outcome of His counsel profitable than our workings. It appears as a time taking process, but the result is always fruitful. The negative thinking that it is a time taking process can be nullified by trusting Him to give a perfect counsel. The Lord always gives perfect counsel, because He knows the future and it is He who holds it as well. His counsel never fails, since He alone plans the times.
God’s people always looked for His counsel. No matter the kind of situation they always set their mind and heart to seek His view; for they did not desire to fail and they knew His view to have no failures. In the book of Judges we notice their habit that has been a virtue passed on from generations. “Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD, saying, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?’” (1:1). How often do we consult the Lord before we do something? The Lord has a wish concerning everything we do. Our view toward the works we like to do is filled with thoughts influenced by our flesh. It appears as true and as that which would have perfect result. Yet, we often see things go wrong. It is because we cannot envision the future and the intricate details in the work we desire to accomplish.
The best thing to do to have success is to first inquire the Lord. Whether we think we know what to do or are with a scrambled head, consulting Him first will keep us from harm and sorrow. People take pride in being able to do what they wish to do without having the surety of success. But, God’s people take pride in surety of success through the counsel of their God. We are the children of the Almighty God who has given us free access to His throne. Utilizing such privilege will keep us in good stead. Setting aside the thought of consulting the Lord will have bad effects. In a sense it is imprudent not to inquire Him; and any imprudence is transgression. A king once sought the counsel of his unwise friends and became the cause for the division of God’s people. “When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people answered the king, saying, ‘what portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel; Now look after your own house, David.’ So all Israel departed to their tents” (2 Chron. 10:16). Since that day Israel were never the same.
The practice of inquiring the Lord for all matters is not at all a bad policy. To some it appears as a weak principle, since it does not accomplish the things they wish to do in their time. But he who seeks perpetual joy, glory and honor through the success the Lord wishes to impute certainly takes pain to inquire Him. If one has passed over the time of inquiring Him and goes about doing his wish the effect of his action falls on him. It is impossible to overturn it, although through repentance God provides a way of restoration for him. Nevertheless, if His counsel is with us at all times, then our life will be full of His strength. David said, “But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress” (Ps. 59:16).
Each time we inquire the Lord He becomes both our stronghold and a refuge. In fact, He longs to be those virtues to us. Imagine if those virtues are with us. There is nothing we cannot conquer; there is no fear, but living confident with renewed strength. When we take His counsel, we indeed realize His strength and potential to carry us through in life. Once we taste the success that comes by His counsel we cannot forego it. It is for this reason that David penned those words. We too shall joyfully sing of His lovingkindness every morning. One thing many church goers do not realize is that the success of a believer in every area of his or her life lies in the counsel they seek from God. A consequence of having faith in God is inquiring Him. Therefore, the works done thereafter are also of faith and are not empty works. And when we see men doing works in the name of faith that are incriminated, it reveals they disembarked from inquiring God.
In order to inquire God for counsel we ought to let go off some things. Then we can have perfection to all the things we do and wish to do. The wise man said, “Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain” (Eccl. 1:18). It is harmful to place efforts for much wisdom and to increase our knowledge through the world. Rather seek God’s counsel, which is the whole wisdom and true knowledge. Men aspiring to seek much wisdom and increasing their knowledge reap much grief and pain, since they wish to make plans and create solutions for any situation apart from God. On the other hand, if we have God’s counsel, He makes ways so that our wisdom and knowledge become beneficial. By His knowledge our knowledge is shone. Therefore, let us act on three reasons to practice inquiring God.
- God is the source of everything. “It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding He stretched out the heavens” (Jer. 51:15). There is no one with better understanding than God concerning our problems, situations and desires. The often we take the chance to inquire Him the better we are sufficed.
- Christ is the reason to inquire God. “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices” (Zech. 6:13). If God has called you to Him for Christ, you realize that seeking His counsel is honoring Christ your Lord.
- We are no longer our own. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3). When we are born again through Christ, we can no longer act on our thoughts, ideas and wisdom. We are renewed to live and act on the counsel of God. Therefore, we also see the kingdom (the power, capabilities, works and possibilities) of God. Again, if we are able to see His kingdom, we are with His counsel.