The Wisdom of Others — A LifeWords Devotion

Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail;
    take good counsel and watch them succeed. (The Message)

It is so very dangerous to plough ahead with our plans without getting some wise advice. If we neglect the counsel of others, we risk indulging our own whims and ambitions, assuming what we think and feel is always right. There is a temptation to believe we have a hotline to God that no one can challenge.

But God has placed us in community, in relationship. We need each other, we are not independent agents. In the words of the poet, we are not islands but part of a greater continent of humankind.

And yet, we can go about seeking the wise counsel of others in unwise ways. Some people exist in what we call echo chambers. They do talk with others, but only those others who will confirm their own plans and opinions. They seek out those who are so very nice that they will never disagree. Or those who share their outlook. And then they convince themselves they have sought advice and got confirmation.

We have so many ways of deluding ourselves and getting our own way. We surround ourselves with those who share our passions and prejudices and presume this is God’s way, that we are “in the know” when it comes to God’s plans and purposes. We exist in a bubble of self-assurance, quarantined against contrary views and perspectives.

By all means seek the wisdom of others. But watch out who those “others” may be – in order to get wisdom from God not reinforcement of our pre-existing opinions.

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Blessings

David