It is your personal responsibility to employ wisdom in the battles of your life.
A conflict of counsels
As he prepared to recover his kingdom from his rebellious son, David was more concerned about the counsel of Ahithophel, than the foot soldiers of Absalom. Ahithophel was a very wise man. In those days, his counsel was accorded the same weight as that of an oracle. He was probably David’s wisest adviser; so, David knew that whatever counsel Ahithophel offered his rebellious son would be extremely devastating unless it was countered. Consequently, David commissioned another of his advisers, Hushai, to neutralize the counsel of Ahithophel.
“But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel’s advice.”
~2 Samuel 15:34
David clearly understood that the real battle was not against the foot soldiers of Absalom. His fight was against the counsel of Ahithophel. It was not merely a battle of swords and spears; it was a conflict between counsels.
Understand this: To recover what the enemies have stolen from you, you must not only fight hard and long, most importantly, you must fight wisely.
“for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.” ~Proverbs 24:6
This clearly underscores the necessity of wisdom for winning the battles of life. A football match, for instance, is not a battle of legs. It is a battle of wits; the wits of the two coaches. Less sophisticated countries leave the battle entirely to the talents of the players, failing to appreciate the fact that this is a highly flawed approach. Talent and determination are not enough to take you to victory. You need wisdom; you need counsel.
Wisdom will help you apply talented effort at the appropriate points. Wisdom will enable you to think ahead with accuracy. She will help you kill several birds with a single stone. She will help you reach your goals with the minimum number of moves. Wisdom will help you maximize your resources for total recovery.
The quest for wisdom is your personal responsibility
As I’ve already pointed out, talent and determination are not enough to take you to victory. You need wisdom; you need counsel; and it is your personal responsibility to acquire the counsel you need.
The Holy Spirit is your greatest Counselor
“Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
~Psalms 144:1
For your hands and fingers to recover what the enemies of destiny have stolen from you, they need to be taught and trained by the LORD. God provided His Holy Spirit as our Chief Counselor and Coach. His guidance is critical to winning the battles of destiny.
“And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:” ~
~Isaiah 11:3
The Holy Spirit empowers your instincts and sharpens your reflexes so that you are never stranded or disadvantaged in the conflicts of life.
God’s word is there to provide guidance
The bible is, and will remain the greatest wisdom manual of all time.
The counsel of God-given mentors will shorten and smoothen your journey