Wonderful Counselor

Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

When I think of a counselor, I think of myself, of those who have counseled me, or of friends who are counselors. I recently changed the board in my kitchen to display Isaiah 9:6, and as I was walking past it, certain words caught my eye. I’ve seen and heard the words a ton of times, but something about them this morning made me stop and pause; I stared at the words for a couple of minutes.

In that moment, I was struck again with how much I love hearing God described as, ‘Wonderful Counselor.’ There is something so very reassuring to me about seeing God as a counselor. The other ways that describe God in Isaiah 9:6 are beautiful and wonderful too, but aren’t as familiar to me as counselor is.

I have to be purposeful about the other words and intentionally ask myself, ‘What does it mean for someone to be a Prince of Peace? What does it mean for someone to be my Everlasting Father?’, but counselor?  This I get! All that a counselor is makes sense to me because I intimately know what that involves.

While Isaiah may have been referencing a counselor more in terms of someone who solely offered advice or wisdom as opposed to emotional support, my mind immediately goes to my own experiences as a counselor.

I started to think, ‘What are all of the things that I specifically do as a counselor?’

When clients are in such a hard place that all they can see are lies, I remind them of truth. I remind them of who they are, and I remind them of who God is.

Psalm 25:5, ‘Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.’

When life seems confusing and overwhelming, we sit down and sort it out together.

1 Peter 5:7, ‘Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.’

When they need to just sit and be sad, I sit and I am sad with them.

Psalm 56:8, ‘You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.’

When they need to be angry and shake their fist at God, I remind them that God invites us to do this, and I sit and wait with them as long as they need.

Psalm 13:1 ‘How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?’

When they need to find words for the unspeakable and the bravery to voice the horribly painful, I offer a safe space and an invitation to help carry some of the burden, so they aren’t holding their pain alone anymore.

Psalm 34:18, ‘The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.’

Aren’t all of these things what our God can do for us? And can’t He do these things better than any human being on earth possibly could?

And I don’t sit with clients begrudgingly. I love sitting with hurting people.  I see it as a sacred gift to be trusted with hurting hearts. How much more does our Heavenly Father LONG to carry our hurts? How much more does our Father LOVE to sit with us, and remind us of truth? If my heart is torn and broken with those in deep pain, how much more does their Father in heaven wail with them when they wail?

It is good and right to seek wise godly counsel on earth. God has so graciously given us other people to be in the flesh, representations of His heart towards us. He has given us people who can hug us tight, people who can weep with us, people who make space in their lives for us.

While God is so gracious to give us these gifts, they can never replace having God as our ultimate counselor. I was reminded today that before I send a text asking for help figuring something out, sharing a hurt, or asking for prayer, I need to first go to God and pour my heart out before him.

I want to remember way more often that I have the most amazing counselor imaginable, and that He’s my Father.

When I think of God as longing to be a counselor to me, it reminds me that over me and over you, He says,

“To me, you are worth investing in.”

“You are precious to me.”

“Being with you fills me with joy.”

And who doesn’t need to be reminded that God speaks all of those words over us?

So maybe join me in making time to intentionally let the God of the universe, who also happens to be your Dad, be your daily, present, perfect counselor.

If you have an interest in contributing to story team, or have a story that you wish to share please contact Jimmy Hettinger at jhettinger316@gmail.com