Deuteronomy 32:28-29
“For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!”
Counsel is needed at some time in everyone's life. There is not a person alive who has all the answers for everything they will face. This is why it is important for people to swallow their pride and go get counseling when they need it.
In the final words of Moses to the children of Israel, he described these people as “...a nation void of counsel...” This statement was not an indictment against his leadership, but rather an indictment against those whom he led. Imagine having the greatest leader of all time in your presence and never going to get counsel from this man. That is what the children of Israel had in Moses. How sad that these people had such a wise man in their presence and never used that wisdom to help them in their lives. We should be careful not to be guilty of the same thing.
What I want you to notice about these verses is what wise counseling is. It is important for everyone to get counseling at some time in their life, but when they do get counseling, they need to get wise counseling. According to the verses above, wise counseling will help a person to consider the end of their decision. Counseling is not so much a person giving you their opinion, but wise counseling is a counselor helping a person to see the end of their decision.
This is one of the reasons we should go to counselors to get counseling. We don't always know the end of a decision because we are not all-knowing. Though we don't know the end of every decision, there are many wise counselors who have seen the end of the decision you need to make who could help you if you would simply go to them.
Because of this, let me encourage you to do two things. First, be sure to get counseling about decisions you need to make. Don't be so filled with pride that you won't go to get counseling. It doesn’t make you any less of a person to get counseling. In fact, it makes you a wiser person to get counsel about the decisions you need to make.
Secondly, listen to the wise counselor’s counsel. When you go in to get counseling from the wise counselor, you would be wise to listen and do what the wise counselor has counseled you to do. If your counselor is wise enough for you to go to, then you would be wise to follow their wise counsel.
Last of all, there are times when you must counsel yourself. When you must counsel yourself, give yourself counseling that considers then end of the decision you need to make. Always consider the end of every decision before you make that decision. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself this question, are you willing to live with this decision for the rest of your life? You can even ask yourself this question, will you be happy with this decision five or ten years down the road? Never consider the immediate effects of this decision, always consider the long-term effects of your decision.
We all need counseling at times. Let's be sure that the counselors we use are wise counselors who help us to consider the end of our decisions.
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