And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace
~ Isaiah 9:6
Good morning my dear sister!
How are you today? Are you sitting with a cuppa tea? Are you reading this on your phone while multi-tasking? I hope that you will allow yourself the luxury of a few peaceful moments of self-reflection while you read this. God loves you and cares about your state of mind!
In this bustling season are you feeling peace? Or perhaps overwhelmed? Maybe you are just going along without taking the time to ask yourself how you’re doing. I confess that sometimes that’s true for me. I’m so far ‘behind’ that I haven’t even started to listen to Christmas music yet!
In fact, the title verse of this little letter is as ‘Christmas-y’ as I’ve gotten so far! But, you know what? I believe the Lord led me to that verse because He wants to remind me that He is not only my Lord, He is my Wonderful Counselor! Maybe He wants you to be reminded of that too.
Especially this time of year, there is always a little voice in my head telling me that I can’t keep up; I need to be doing something; cooking, baking, decorating, shopping, wrapping. I shouldn’t be taking time for things that will still ‘be there’ after the holidays, like relaxing, fellowship, church meetings, prayer time or Bible study. It doesn’t take a super spiritual person to discern where that counsel comes from!
Do we need to be super spiritual to hear the counsel of God? It might seem so when we read what the apostle Paul writes to the new believers in Rome! “Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable are HIs ways!” ~Romans 11:33
Of course the depth and riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge are beyond our limited capacity to understand, that’s why He’s God and we’re not! But fear not, dear sister! He’s also our Father! Just as the wisdom and knowledge of a human parent is unsearchable to the child, so is our heavenly Father’s wisdom and knowledge to His children.
The key here is a close relationship. We can trust that, “If we then, being evil, know how to give our children good gifts, how much MORE shall our Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?” (Matthew 7:11) No matter what your human parents taught you, your Father in Heaven wants to give you good things if you ask Him! There really isn’t anything ‘super spiritual’ about it. We choose the counselor we want to have a relationship with all the time, whether human or supernatural. The closer we grow to that counselor, the deeper the relationship, and the more you grow attentive to hear that voice.
Does ‘hearing from God’ still seem out of reach for you? When I’m not sure where the counsel I’m hearing is coming from, I pause to consider what the fruit of moving in that counsel might be. Will it lead to peace with God? Or, like that counsel that tells you that you’re falling short, does it lead to guilt or condemnation? It’s a pretty reliable test; our Wonderful Counselor is also our Mighty God, our Eternal Father and our Prince of Peace! Our Eternal Father does not condemn His child who comes to Him! We delight in the rare occasions our children come to us seeking wisdom or knowledge, how much more does God delight when we ask Him for His wisdom! May we have the ears to hear!
This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great ~Isaiah 28:29
Finally, when we listen to God, we will have peace in our lives, even if it’s something challenging!
May our Prince of peace, our mighty God, our eternal Father and wonderful Counselor fill you with His wisdom for today and every day as you seek Him!
With love, from your sister, Celeste