Tuesday; July 25

I didn’t tend to rebel as a teenager – even though I was a preacher’s kid – but, there were still times when I needed some “direction”.   Throughout adolescence I was given guidance by my parents – sometimes by way of gentle reminders and other times their message was a lot more direct and to the point.  As I look back on those days I recall that I did not always appreciate their insight, yet it wasn’t necessarily because they gave me bad advice.  More often than not, when I didn’t like what my parents were saying it wasn’t because they made bad decisions, it was just because I didn’t like the answers.
You might think that the older I get the more I have come to appreciate answers I don’t like, but I am not sure that is necessarily true.  We all find ourselves in positions where we don’t get the answers we want and we have to make a decision what we are going to do with the input we receive.  When we find ourselves standing at the crossroads of reacting to the news we don’t appreciate we need to ask the question:  Have we been given bad advice or do we just not like the answer?   If the person is in a position of authority and the advice given is in error we may have to choose an appropriate response.  Yet, if we just don’t like what the other person has to say, that is a completely different issue.  In fact, we may just have to learn to live with solid decisions that don’t go our way.
Let’s recall the words of the wise king, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” (Proverbs 12:15)  Wisdom may come in a way (and at a time) that we like it the least but need it the most.
Think About It!

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