Seeking and Accepting Counsel

We have all seen youngsters and others also, listen reluctantly to last-minute instructions. “I know, I know,” impatiently they reply, maybe having half heard. They are confident they don’t need directions or counsel of any kind. But by listening they could likely save themselves much loss of time or the making of many mistakes. In the over-confidence of youth, or in the self-sufficiency of any age, taking time for counsel is often considered unessential, but the importance of it is later learned — and sometimes too long later. An able executive once made the admission that most of the mistakes he had made were in matters he had over-confidently decided for himself, without counseling or consulting anyone else. Sometimes we may make up our minds what we want to do or what we hope is true, and simply don’t want to face any other facts or to see any other side, and so avoid advice that might be at variance with our own. Sometimes pride or stubbornness or self-conceit keeps us from asking questions or considering the opinions of other people. Sometimes we are sincerely reluctant to trouble others, sincerely reluctant to take their time. But never should we let the pride of solo performance lead us to rush in and make bold and brash blunders, or to pay a needless price for the kind of pride or impatience or carelessness or over-confidence that refuses to listen, that refuses to learn, or that refuses even to look at the instructions on the label. The counsel that comes from others — past and present — is part of the heritage we have. And if we don’t come together in counsel, how can we be sure that we have the facts, or that we are seeing the several sides of a subject. Children need to counsel with parents. There is safety in talking out problems with parents. Wives and husbands need to counsel with each other. One of the surest signs of thoughtfulness and appreciation is to take into our confidence those we love and live with. There is wisdom in the counseling together of men in public places, and in business and professional pursuits. We need family counsel; we need community counsel — the talking out of problems, freely and frankly, the bringing of things out into the open. And we need also the counsel of the Lord God, the counsel of His commandments, and the counsel the comes with a prayerful approach to problems: “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good;…”¹ Ultimately, we have to choose; we have to decide for ourselves, and to accept responsibility for our own decisions; but seeking and considering counsel is a factor of safety, a mark of maturity, and an evidence of sincere consideration for others also.