ADVICE

One rises in the morning and seeks advice. History should tell one exactly what to expect from one's friends and acquaintances, but if one is angry, frustrated, hurt, confused and bursting to share, one may deliberately make the wrong call. One wants sympathy, empathy, understanding and consent. One wants to be heard. One should think very soberly about who one should call. Calling on the Lord would be the best thing to do, but one knows what kind of response HE will give, and it won't line up with what one wants to do about one's problem--especially if one is bent on revenge or being right. God will discourage knee jerk responses that will make things worse.

One scrolls through one's contacts list. From one potential counselor, one might gain painful, but necessary and righteous wisdom and truth--and a genuine promise of confidentiality. From another counselor, one will get jokes, and lighthearted anecdotes. From yet another, one will wonder whether one called or was called. One's problems have a tendency to trigger the unresolved issues that others may have. Another person's arrogance, delusion, and laments of failed schemes and foolish missteps can hijack and derail a conversation. What's worse, after one unburdens oneself, one will remember that there is no guarantee of confidentiality, because the counselor has already proven disloyalty, inability to be discreet, and an uncanny way of making everything about himself. Confide in that counselor, and one's business will be in the streets, highways, and byways before the day is over--in varying, unrecognizable versions.

Have a problem? Calm down. Sit down. Think. Is it a mountain or a molehill? Is it even necessary to share it? Is it something that can be easily resolved by relinquishing stubbornness or procrastination? Will involving others backfire? Think. Is it really that big a deal?

One must decide if one really wants the best advice--which may mean one will be convicted, corrected, and humbled. In possession of the best advice, one may find that one's future includes reevaluating, apologizing, exercising patience, engaging in self-examination, letting go of wrongly held perceptions, rethinking plans, or forgiving others--or oneself. 

One's problem will be quashed if one heeds good advice. However, if one is merely seeking permission or consent to do or say the wrong thing, feel the wrong way, and perpetuate one's problem, one knows exactly who to call--the  busybody; the gossip; the hothead; the yes man; the instigator; the fool. 

Don't make the wrong call. Pray. God can handle it. He may even lead you to righteous people who have the answers that will make your situation better--and they may not be in your list of contacts.