The prophet Isaiah described Jesus using four names, beginning with WONDERFUL COUNSELOR (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus isn’t just A Counselor; He is THE WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, the Counselor of COUNSELORS.
1. Jesus is fully human and identifies with us. He knows what we are going through.
One reason Jesus Christ came to earth was to be able to relate to our struggles, our weaknesses, and our pain. Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are. He had the same needs, the same drives, the same desires, the same pressures, problems and temptations of life. He experienced deep loneliness, betrayal, hurts and injustices. He suffered like we did. He knew what it meant to be criticized, misunderstand, hated and reviled. This same Jesus has time for us when we come to Him for help. Jesus invites us to come to Him at any time, but especially when we need counsel.
2. Jesus is fully GOD who knows us and the truth about us. As the WORD, Jesus communicates the mind of God to us. As our wonderful counselor, Jesus tells us in the Scriptures the truth of who we are, what is broken in our lives, and our need for a Saviour. He tells us the truth about our pride and stubbornness. He teaches us that the key to a full life is found in trusting HIM rather than in ourselves.
Because He is the truth and tells us the truth, we can trust Him and His teaching in the decisions we make, and we can follow Him in the way we live our lives.
Jesus longs for us to come to Him first. He wants us to live every day in total dependence on Him, to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind, and to totally depend on Him for truth, direction and wisdom. Jesus wants us to live each moment with a conscious awareness of His presence. He wants us to come to Him about anything and everything. And He is grieved when we don’t.
God has a purpose and a plan for you and me, BUT He doesn’t reveal it all at once. God rolls it out a little at a time because He wants us to depend on Him and come to Him daily.
The primary way Jesus speaks to us and to our circumstances is through the Bible. Read and study it carefully. Hear it taught faithfully in worship services and in Bible study with other Christians. Meditate on the Scriptures and respond in prayer to what God says to us through the Scriptures.
Pray out loud. God loves to be our counselor. He loves it when we come to Him with our problems, issues and concerns. He loves to surprise us with insights, solutions, and creative ideas. He loves to empower us and use us to stir the hearts of others to action; but it requires that we take a step of faith and ASK HIM in prayer.
Ask Jesus to do what you can’t do, or ask Him to do it far more effectively than you ever could. Jesus wants us to come to Him FIRST and ask Him for His wisdom and His power.
When we do things on our own, we not only miss out on His counsel, and Him doing what we could never do in our own strength, but we also miss the faith-building adventure God wants us to experience by seeing HIS hand do what we can’t do or seeing His hand do FAR MORE than we could ask or think.