S. Proverbs 15:22 "Plans go wrong for lack of advice. Many advisers bring success."
O. Several things I glean from this passage today. First, planning is a good thing. People who do not plan, plan to fail; people who plan, find success. Elsewhere in Proverbs are such great passages such as "..committing our plans to the Lord brings success..." (Proverbs 16:3 ); and one of my favorites, "The horse is prepared for battle but victory belongs to the Lord." ( Proverbs 21:31 ). Without question, good planning is essential to lead a successful and fruitful life.
However along with planning is the place of advisers. The Proverb states "many advisers." The word "many" is from the Hebrew "rabad" and means "multitude, abundance or greatness." The word "adviser" is from the Hebrew "sod" and means friendship, intimate and fellowship. So together it's pretty clear that having quite a few people who are close to you, intimate with you, people that you can circle up with, fire questions or thoughts back and forth is good and essential for planning. Further, this idea of adviser is not just anyone, but someone who knows you and can offer you the best insight based upon their relationship to you.
The idea of many advisers is that it slows us down, keeps us from being impulsive and acting upon our emotions. It allows us the opportunity to see into our blind spots; weigh and consider alternatives and then, with that information commit our decisions, our plans to the Lord which He promises will result with success.
A. I have made plenty of impulsive and solo decisions in my life. I have also listened to advice of well meaning people, but people who did not really know me nor my areas of gifting. More recently I've tried to surround myself with people who know me and have an interest in me. I have always tried to find the combination of an older person who has walked where I desire to walk; a contemporary who is experiencing things I experience because we share the same season of life; and a younger person that I can pour into whatever amount of wisdom I've been blessed to receive.
P. Thank you Father for the wisdom of many advisers; godly people who have wisdom and that you have place into my life. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give me enlightenment to receive and to act upon the wisdom that is given me. I commit then these plans to you in Jesus name!
