Daily Devotionals

August 19

The Counsel of the Lord

Gloria Copeland
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Many Christians have a counseling mentality today. They think that Scripture says, “If there’s any troubled among you, let him go for counseling and get the pastor to pray.” But that’s not what it says.

Let me tell you Whose counsel will bring you out of trouble—the counsel of the Lord. Ken and I know that from experience. Some years ago, for instance, this ministry faced serious financial trouble. We were a million dollars in the red and no matter what we did, we just couldn’t seem to shake that deficit.

So Ken began to seek the wisdom of God. He prayed and said, “What is the problem here, Lord?”

Then he got still and listened for the counsel of God. Sure enough, that counsel came.

God said, Give the top 10 percent of the ministry’s gross income away.

Now, those instructions made no sense to the natural mind. They seemed like foolishness. But we were just “foolish” enough to follow them. And, of course, when we did, God brought us out of that deficit.

Let me warn you. You’re never going to figure out the counsel of the Lord with your mind. He is so much smarter than we are that sometimes His wise counsel sounds foolish to us. We have to come to a place of faith where we simply say, “God, I realize that You’re smarter than I am, so I’ll do whatever You say.”

Remember though, God isn’t going to interrupt your life with His wisdom. He will wait on you to turn to Him, to seek after Him. You must do as Psalm 34:4 says: “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

Speak the Word

I seek the Lord and He hears me. He delivers me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)

Scripture Study: Psalm 34


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