Who's Your Advisor?

“So David inquired of the Lord: ‘Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?’” (I Sam. 23:2).

What courage! What audacity! What brilliance! What boldness to inquire of the Lord! Was not David a great military general? Could he not rely on his inner self to guide this plan? Didn’t David have those around him he could rely on to plan an attack on the enemy?

Yes, David could have brought a plan to fruition by his own design, or he could have relied on a strategy produced by his staff. He didn’t do either. Many times, we seek the best advice and guidance from fellow human beings, but much of the counsel is based on failure, inability or illogical reasoning. 

Advice is at an overflow in our land. Some advice is multiple hundreds of dollars an hour and that hour lasts only 40 to 45 minutes. Those who are the wizened wonders of advice giving are often postcard picture-perfect failures in their own lives. Remember the “how to raise your child” written by those who have no children? These guides or life coaches depend on their own educational accomplishments, their past experiences and even the advice of their contemporaries. They really don’t know much more, if anything, more than you do. At best, their words aim at “making you better.” Their counsel or advice at best works in a paltry manner, if at all.

Wonder of wonders as to the outcome when we inquire of the Lord! There is guidance that leads from the miasma swamp. There is direction beyond the human mind when we will but seek it. This is the leadership we get from God. In life’s quandaries, right now, let us inquire of the Lord. David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord responded. It did not cost David anything, and it provided him with everything.

— This is an excerpt from a new book that is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2022 by Dr. Tony Cleaver. The current working title of the book is, “Life Coaching: From the Historical Books.”