Counsel of the Lord

Joshua 9:14b "but they did not ask counsel of the Lord."

The children of Israel were so deceived, and this 9 word phrase gives the reason why they were duped by a neighboring country which posed to be poor travelers from a far away country. They made a pact with them, took some of their gifts...it "sounded" good and "looked" right. But it was so wrong. A lie.

How often we are in this same situation. When things look so right, yet we do not take counsel of the Lord. Assuming what appears right, must be right. Wrong!! We are living in the midst of a "me" generation. We are so deceived in believing we "deserve" to have all our wishes and whims. This couldn't be further from the truth.

The truth of the matter is that we "deserve" nothing. We are as "filthy rags," as God called the children of Israel. We don't even deserve His grace, but God so generously gives it. While we were sinners, God sent Jesus, his only son, His very best, so that we could have life eternal in the presence of God!

Before our next purchase, sporting event, vacation don't assume it is right because it looks good. I'm not saying it isn't good or that God wouldn't want it. But take counsel of the Lord before hand. Ask God what His will is. Often what He has for us, is so much more than what we can even begin to plan for ourselves.

The year of the earthquake, 2010, was also our 25th wedding anniversary. I had been checking some options and possibilities for us to celebrate and a small vacation. I had not made any reservations yet. It was still wishful thinking stage. We had never celebrated our anniversary, so I thought it should be ok to at least have one year to be special. I still think it would have been fun, but it wasn't to be. We celebrated by having the recovering time—doctor appointments, etc.

We learned so much through this experience. I doubt if we would have learned the same things on a "real" vacation. I confess, I never got to the counsel of the Lord on this issue. He just took us in another direction before I got to that.

God's counsel is a precursor to God's blessing

God bless you