Proverbs 11:14: We All Need Counselors

"Where there is no guidance, a people falls,

but in an abundance of counselors there is safety."

Proverbs 11:14

What is counseling? So often, we picture it as an expensive medical industry, and nothing more. Although counseling certainly can be this, it is much, much more. One of my professors simply defined counseling as "what happens when people with questions, problems, and trouble have a conversation they think has answers, solutions, and help."* Put simply, counseling is nothing more than the act of someone with solutions giving help to someone with problems, however big or small they may be.

In Proverbs 11:14, we see some practical, biblical advice in the area of counseling. God's Word tells us here that those who have no guidance fall, but those who have an abundance of counselors dwell in safety. What we see most clearly from this verse is that we all need counselors. So often, we think that the counseling ministry of the church is something that is only for super messed up people, like those who have struggled with depression or have experienced a rough circumstance. Let me tell you firstly how this is certainly not true but also what the danger is in believing this. Firstly, this counsling is not only for "super messed up people" because we are all super messed up. The Bible tells us from cover to cover that we are all evil, sinful, and corrupt and in great need of help (see Ephesians 2:1-3 for example). Thus, we all need counselors because we are all super messed up. Certainly those enduring certain conditions or harsh circumstances need counseling as well, if not more, but we must not think that counseling is only for them. The danger in thinking this is that if we picture counseling as only for specific people, we will create a division in the church of those who "need help" and those who "don't need help" when we truly all need help. Furthermore, those who aren't considered "super messed up" will miss out on the goodness that is the counseling ministry of the church. Thus, we must realize that counseling is for everyone, for we all need counselors.

So, what does this devotion have to do with me? You may be asking. Well, do you you have a counselor? In other words, do you have a mentor or a teacher who you can go to with your problems that you might find solutions that will help you grow and become more like Christ? Perhaps you have one, but do you have an abundance of them? If not, let me encourage you that Proverbs 11:14 tells you to in order that you might dwell in safety. So, go find a new counselor today. Ask someone to pour into you. Get coffee with a older man or woman that might be able to give wisdom to your soul. For it is surely better to do so than to fall, as the proverb says.

*Dr. Heath Lambert