Joyce Meyer
has a saying, “Don’t run to the phone; go to the throne.” She was speaking mainly to women about this
because when we women have problems we usually talk to our family and friends
about it. We want their sympathy and advice. Joyce says to go to God first, and
not only that but to perhaps not to share those problems with other people. God
is enough and will comfort and guide us.
To me, this
seemed like good advice and I’ve been trying to do this. I have found out that
God indeed does comfort and guide. He puts Bible verses in my mind about the
problem I have. I feel heard and understood by him in a wonderful way. And I’m
glad not to share my gloom and doom attitude with my family since it usually makes
them feel sad or mad. It can be hard dealing with a family member who is
naturally fearful.
But there
are other voices that say we should have spiritual mentors and go to them with
our plans and problems. I listened to a podcast of someone who said she thought
she had a great plan for this year, but every mentor/spiritual advisor told her
not to do it.
When Joyce
was called by God to be a preacher, no one thought she should do it either. Her
church kicked her out and her family didn’t believe God called her. Only her
husband supported her after talking with God about it. At the time there were
no women preachers, or very few; most churches would not allow it. But I
believe God did call her and she has helped millions of people through
preaching, writing and charity.
I was
talking with God about this, feeling confused on what is right about the
subject. He asked me to think on what Jesus did. Well, Jesus didn’t ask other
people for their advice on where to go or what to do. He took his marching
orders from his father. He is our perfect example of what we should do.
Then I thought of Paul, who was converted on the road
to Damascus. This is what he says in Galatians 1:15,16
“But when God, who set me apart from my
mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in
me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult
with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came
before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
Only
after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen
days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.”
Ellicott’s
Commentary for English Readers says this:
“Having once obtained a firm inward apprehension of Christ as
the Messiah and Saviour, the Apostle then comes forward to preach Him among the
heathen. But that firm inward apprehension was not to be attained all at once,
and it was in seeking this that “the Spirit drove him” into the wilderness of
Arabia. First comes the instantaneous flash of the idea upon his soul (“to
reveal his Son in me”); then the prolonged conflict and meditation, in which it
gets thoroughly consolidated, and adjusted, and worked into his being (during
the retirement into Arabia); lastly, the public appearance as a preacher to the
heathen upon the return to Damascus.”
So Paul
did not seek men’s advice or teaching, which is interesting. Most preachers go
to seminary to learn how and what to preach.
When Paul
was preaching in Berea, the Bible says, “Now
these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word
with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were
so.” Acts 17:11
Now Jesus
was a spiritual advisor to the disciples. There is that to consider. He called
them, he taught them and he trained them. Paul advised Timothy and other
Christian leaders. Elijah took Elisha under his wing.
I think I
have come to the conclusion that before we listen to any person, we should
study the Bible deeply and we should spend much time in prayer. There are false
teachers and false prophets. I believe God will let us know as we study and
pray whether what someone is preaching is right or wrong.
One thing
too about humans. Even if they are right about many things, they can be off the
mark in some things. Preachers disagree with each other. They interpret the
Bible differently. And not because they don’t love God or study, it is just another
way Humans are not perfect.
George
Whitefield and John Wesley disagreed about Calvinistic points, but Whitefield,
to the very last, was determined to forget minor differences and to regard
Wesley as Calvin did Martin Luther, “only as a good servant of Jesus Christ.”
He asked Wesley to preach his funeral sermon.
“On
another occasion a censorious professor of religion asked Whitefield whether he
thought they would see John Wesley in heaven. “No sir,” was the striking answer;
“I fear not, for he will be so near the throne, and we shall be at such a
distance, that we shall hardly get a sight of him.”
The
Collected Sermons of George Whitefield.
