“Do you really think your friend is the best one to advise you on what to do here?”
A question I often asked our kids growing up. I tried my best to help them see that their friends really didn’t know much more than they did about life….simply because they had not lived any longer than they had. In my opinion, many times they lacked life experience, wisdom and maturity. I would also pose the question, “Would you ask someone advice about your golf game if they had never played golf?”
Our goal was to help them understand the principle found in the book of Matthew. Jesus was teaching a crowd about being careful who they followed and who they listened to. Jesus said to the crowd in Matthew 15:14, “Leave them they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” If you study the scripture, Jesus, at that time, was referring to the Pharisees. They were known to “cherry pick” God’s laws and principles using them inappropriately to influence, judge and mislead people. They, for sure, would take scripture out of context and many times would preach God’s Word, but not live it.
Subject of the post–Who do I / you/ we listen to?
Where do we look for advice?
When seeking wisdom and direction…who do we talk to? What is our source?
First and foremost, it is important to know…God is the one we should run to first!
He is our GO TO…GUY! He is available 24/7…He is a great listener. He is ALL-KNOWING. And scripture teaches…He has our best interest at heart. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” We have read and heard that scripture…but right after it continues to instruct in verses 12-14, “‘Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.”
God is definitely the first place where we should go. From there He often leads us through His Word, but He can also lead us to others. People who are wise and willing to walk beside us and help guide us down paths of direction and decisions that avoid the pits, and lead us to climb mountains.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you are reading this post and you possibly are in a pit….whether it be:
relational,
financial,
substance abuse,
poor performance…
or just stuck in a slimy pit and you can’t even label it….
maybe, just maybe, we have blindly listened to or followed the blind…not realizing…they were blind also. It may be a recurring problem in my/your/our life……going to the wrong source.
God says in His Word “Whoever has ears, let them hear,” (Matthew 11:15). He also says in Mark 8:18, “Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?” Plain and simple…turn to God. Cry out to Him. Ask Him to show you how to follow Him. Ask Him to bring people into your life….people who are not blind.
I can say for sure…the best “rope” for a pit is God’s Word and calling out to Him, a “divine rope!” It is steady, reliable, and the guaranteed strategy for saving anyone from a “pit.” It doesn’t mean when we climb out of the pit, we aren’t slimy, smelly and wounded (those are just results from pits…consequences)….but it gets us out of the pit and places us on firm ground. Then we are able to walk forward to a place to “wash” and get clean, and find people to help bandage the wounds.
Pits are dark, lonely, harmful, smelly places…unfortunately in life…at times, we can all slip, or jump or get pushed into one. God and His Word make a strong and safe rope for climbing out of any pit…we just have to reach and grab the “rope”. It takes some effort on our part…but God has all the muscle He needs to pull us out!:)