SEEK GOD’S COUNSEL

• DAY 87
• Fear File: Israel
• Scripture: Joshua 9:3,4,14

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

I find our scripture for today relatable because it highlights a trap that we often forget to go back to God for every single thing like we used to. And this is dangerous because the Bible says we should acknowledge God in all of our ways. (Proverbs 3:6). ALL!! That means we can’t pick and choose what “way” to acknowledge Him in and we definitely cannot get to a point where we feel like we know what His thoughts are  that we don’t go back to check with Him. 

We’ve seen through Scripture, that the people that went to God, weren’t always the people that didn’t have an idea of the answer. But people who knew that, God speaks all the time, and the answer may not be the same every time. If we assume what His response might be we might find ourselves in the same scenario we have in our text today.

A costly mistake

Israel signed a treaty with a nation they shouldn’t have signed with because they relied on their assumption and expertise rather than God’s counsel. When the Gibeonites showed up in disguises, they asked all the questions that should be asked and checked all the evidence presented and drew conclusions without asking God specifically about that nation. They probably thought they took precaution but they did not account for deception.

Let me put a pin here and say this “You cannot trust only your eyes or your judgment or even your smart questions when it comes to anything that has to do with your life”. Because the thing is that sometimes situations present themselves in a way that would not look like it’s harmful for you. In fact, that’s one of the strategies of the devil -disguise.

Blind Spots

Neglecting God’s counsel was a mistake that cost Israel in the future and it will have the same effect on you. Seeking God is what we’re supposed to do at all times even for the most trivial things, it should be our lifestyle. Ask Him…

“God, this person in front of me, is he my friend? This man that is asking me out, Is he supposed to be my husband? This woman that I'm interested in? Is she supposed to be my wife? Am I supposed to be in this business with these people? This house I want to move into, is it right for me”, and so on.  

These may seem simple and irrelevant to you, but these are very important questions. You might judge by the fact that the person is Christian, or the business is lucrative, the location may be wonderful, etc and end up in deep mess. And I know you think it may not always go as bad, but just associating with those things or people might affect your faith negatively. 

There is something called ‘blind spot’ and no matter how good your eyesight or judgment is, you can’t see the things that are in your blind spots. But God sees all your spots, angles and perspectives. So you cannot trust your imbalanced perspective to give you the correct counsel for every situation. 

An Omniscient POV

The Bible calls the Holy Spirit a counselor for a reason. We are supposed to go to Him for advice and opinion, that’s what a counselor is for. A counselor gives you the best advice for your situation. Their opinion is based on experience and the Spirit of the Lord is very “experienced” in matters of your destiny because He has lived your end from your beginning. So His experience is a better perspective for you than your own. 

So let this be an encouragement and a warning for you today to ask God everything. Asking God saves you a lot of stress and hassle. 

We see later in the Bible that because of the treaty that Israel had with nations like Gibeon and other nations that were close to them, they left the ways of the Lord. And this was the exact reason that God told them not to sign a treaty with them, because their ways were not the same as the children of Israel. And He had checked them out and He saw that if Israel associates with them, evil communication will corrupt good manners and God didn’t want that.

Listen, you don’t have to wait for ‘prayer’ time. The Holy Spirit is with you always on purpose because He knows that matters will continually be arising. You can take two seconds to ask Him for His counsel before you make that decision. So, even now, make a list of everything you want to do and talk to God about it. 

God help us all In Jesus name.

 Shalom.