Devotional - July 26, 2004

Most of us want to know the things we do please God. After all, as a child of God, we should be following the example His word sets for us. At least, we should learn from it, shouldn't we? After all, the kings of the Old Testament were renown for doing the things that did not please God and as a result, they suffered the consequences for their bad choices. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Jehoshaphat was asked to join the king of Judah in a fight against a common enemy. More times than not, nations practice the rule that states: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" when considering joining a war. But there is something else that we should do before taking action on their own. A child of God can seek the counsel of the Lord and find out what pleases Him rather than asking the Lord to bless their own effort.

In Psalm 20 David prayed, "May he (God) give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed." I don't imagine there's anything that would please us more than having that particular prayer answered. The problem we face however, is our tendency to define God's counsel on the basis of our own experience and then asking Him to bless it.

May we learn a lesson from God's word and not have to miss the blessing his word affords. The next time we have a decision, may we FIRST seek counsel from the Lord. And we do that by turning to the Bible and praying, asking God to reveal truth that will reveal HIS desire. Then we listen as the Holy Spirit speaks to us and confirms the Lord's counsel. However, should we not be clear as to what to do, we can seek godly counsel who can shed light on the situation.

Regardless of the question, God's word revealed through His Spirit and the counsel of a godly friend is able to give us God's answer. What we do with that information, however is another story altogether. The king to whom Jehoshaphat counseled was named Ahab. He had the right answer, but he failed to listen to counsel and lost his life as a result. There is the problem. Getting the answer from God's word is not the only issue. You see, there is also the question of obedience. Sadly, knowing the right answer doesn't justify a wrong decision.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru (2 Ch. 17:1-18:34 Rm. 9:25-10:12 Ps. 20:1-9 Pr. 20:2-3 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society