Who has your ear?

Good morning dear Sunday morning Saints. Glad we have a lovely day to worship and serve the LORD with gladness.  Question - Who has your ear? I mean who are you listening to? Or are you listening to anyone? Some feel they have all the answers and they do not need any advice from anyone. Is that you or do you know someone like that?

In my reading this morning from 2 Chronicles 10-11, I ran into such a character as this. Solomon had died and now his son step in to be king. The people came to him and asked him to lighten their load. He said, "I will get back to you in three days." During those three days he was wise enough to seek advice from others. First he went to the ELDERS and asked them what he should do, they told him to be kind and speak kind words to them and they would serve him for the rest of their lives. Sounded good to me. But not to him. I guess he didn’t respect or trust the advice of those seasoned saints. So he went to his running buddies--the young men he grew up with--and asked them what they thought. They told him to not let up but to make things harder. He listed to the youth of his day and did just that. What were the results of this? A riot and public protest. The people turned on him and the end results were he had to escape and run for his life.

Why did he not listen to those who were wise in their older age and have a kingdom of individuals that were willing to serve him for the rest of his life? Because he trusted in those who he grew up with and look what happened.

In leadership, I know that I do not know all the answers. I believe that two, three, four heads are better than my one. When we are facing a situation it is always better to gain counsel (brain storm) on the best way to handle a the situation. The council will bring more thoughts and understandings to the detail that maybe we would have never thought of. But the King trusted in his running buddies and that got him into some hot water.

God has a plan for us and, like the elders, told the king that if we be kind to others and speak kind words of instruction to them, we can turn away a bunch of wrath. It is true, our words can calm or cause chaos so we need to choose our words wisely. Maybe we need to choose our friends wisely as well. Have a blessed day and stay safe out there. Blessings