Isaiah 9:6 is where we learn Jesus is to be our counselor; the prophet Isaiah is foretelling of the birth of Christ, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us…and he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. For the longest time I have struggled with the idea of God being my counselor. My healer, that I got, but counselor has been a struggle. Perhaps that’s because usually when I hear pastors talk about God as my counselor they are also talking negatively about seeing a counselor. As someone who sees a counselor that doesn’t go over too well with me. Why should I feel bad about seeking the help I need with a counselor? I don’t feel bad about it, and I refuse to feel as though I’m doing something which reflects poorly on my faith in God.
The forgotten point that should be made is summed up in Galatians 6:2 which states, “Share each other’s burden, and in this way obey the law of Christ”. The law of Christ that is being spoken of is in John 13:34, “So now I am giving you a new commandment; Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other”. The idea of sharing in each other’s burdens is to help each other and to encourage each other in the things that come our way, and in doing so we mirror Christ’s love. You don’t have to be a Christian to fulfill this. I have said for a long time that not everyone is called or equipped to handle my struggles and burdens; not everyone can handle it. This is where I feel counselors come into play; they have the training and experience to equip them to be able to handle and help me with my struggles. Seeing a counselor is just another way for Galatians 6:2 to be fulfilled.
For the last year God has really been showing me how He is my counselor. He is my counselor because He has been orchestrating what I need to move forward in my healing, and I’m finally seeing that it’s God who has been doing it. I feel as though I’m in counseling three times a week even though I only see my counselor once a week. On most Sundays the message I hear mirrors the things I am working on with my counselor, and the same goes the women’s life group I go to once a week. It is only God who can bring these three areas together in the way that they have been. I have been in and out of counseling for the last 15 years, and have spent more time in counseling than out of it. Never have I notice the correlation between what I’m doing in counseling and that of what is going on in church. It really has been remarkable.
This is how I see God as being my counselor; He knows what I need and what I am struggling with, and He knows how to bring that help to me so that I may find healing. He has helped me find the counselor that I see, and has directed us to the church we go to; in addition to the women’s life group I go to through our church. I have been working on undoing the lies I have been believing about myself, and on how to just live life without the shadow of my past hovering over me. It hasn’t been easy but I am making progress. In church recently there has been an Overcomer Series and we have just started a series titled Yes and Amen. The Overcomer series showed me things I need to overcome and the lies that I have believed about myself. The Yes and Amen series has let me know that God is not done with me yet and that He will continue to do a work in me. In the Women’s Life Group we have been doing Louie Giglio’s Goliath Must Fall study where we are learning about defeating the giants in our life. All of this has been a great companion to the work I do with my counselor because a lot of the time it either mirrors or complements what I am learning at church and in the women’s life group. All three areas come together to form a complete picture of what I need right now to heal and move forward. Only God can bring together three independent areas to form a complete picture of what I need.
This I offer to you: the hope of possibility; He has done it for me and I know He can do it for you to…it is possible. Sometimes the hope of what is possible is all we need to make it to the next step. I have the hope of possibility: that it is possible for me to get to where I want to be; God is showing me that it is possible, and that is enough for me. For I can now see how God is the great counselor.
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