A Word Fitly Spoken

What kinds of people miss the healing benefits of wise counsel?

Not all counseling is effective. The failure may not be with the counselor, but with the one seeking counsel. Before we identify six types of people who lose the benefit of counseling, we must note that occasionally a person's problem is organic in nature. That person may need physical help—the attention of a medical doctor. With that in mind, let's now identify the ones upon whom counseling has minimal effect:

slow to speak

Proverbs 12:18; 13:3; 17:27-28; 29:20.

In order to determine that, let's begin with a simple test. This will tell us how effective we will be as helpers, encouragers, and counselors to our friends and family members.

Why is wise and healing counsel needed?

To help a person understand his heart

Proverbs 20:5: "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out."

I can vividly remember the first time I heard about Solomon and his wisdom in Sunday School. It made quite an impression on me because of the way our teacher introduced the subject, asking the class, "If you had three wishes and could have anything you wanted, what would you choose?" My potential list was filled with things that would gladden any boy's heart, but I believe I finally narrowed it down to three. I wanted a bicycle, money and fame. After the members of the class offered their wish lists, our teacher told us about how Solomon had a similar opportunity to choose, and chose wisdom above everything else. I was deeply affected by that class. I went home that day and prayed: "God, that makes sense to me. If I'm wise, I'll get wisdom and anything else I want as well—including a bike." So I asked for wisdom, and it has since been my consistent prayer.