Proverbs 24:6 "For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory."
While the Christian is to live above his circumstances, he is not to be unaware of them. God often works through
circumstances in revealing His perfect will for us. Certainly Paul's wonderful statement that "all things work together
for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28) takes into account our circumstances. A number of biblical examples can
be given to illustrate this.
God directed Abraham to substitute a ram, whose horns had somehow become entangled in a thicket, for the life of Isaac
(Genesis 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns;
and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
God arranged for Pharaoh's daughter to be bathing in the r iver Nile at the exact time the baby Moses floated by in a
little ark of bulrushes (Exodus 2:1-10 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when
she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put
the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river's brink. And his sister stood at a distance, to know what
would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside
the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. WHen she opened it she saw the child; and
lo, the babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrew's children." Then his sister
said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" And
Pharaoh's daughter said to he, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter
said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child
and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son; and she named
him Moses, for she said, "Because I drew him out of the water."
Paul's young nephew happened to overhear a plot to kill his famos uncle. He then reported it to the authorities,
thus saving the apostle's life (Acts 23:12-22 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath
neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. And they
went to the chief priests and elders, and said, "We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have
killed Paul. You therefore, along with the council, give notice now to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though
you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near." Now the
son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush; so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. And Paul called one of
the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the tribune; for he has something to tell him." So he took him and
brought him to the tribune and said, "Paul the prisoner called me asd asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something
to say to you."
The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, "What is it that
you have to tell me?" ANd he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the councill tomorrow, as
though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not yield to them; for more than forty of their
men lie in ambush for him, having bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now
they are ready, waiting for the promise from you." So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, "Tell no one
that you have informed me of this."
Surely the above circumstances were providentially arranged. So the Christian should ask, when attempting
to discover God's will, is the Lord showing me something through my circumstances? Counselors also play an important
role in finding God's will. "In multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 24:6).
However three things must be kept in mind at this point:
1. Counsel must come from a godly source. Proverbs 25:19 Trust in a faithless man in time
of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
2. Sometimes even the godliest person can unknowingly give us wrong advice. Nathan the prophet
did this when he encouraged David to build the temple (2 Samuel 7:1-13 Now when the king dwelt
in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies round about, the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See
now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent." And Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that
is in your heart; for the LORD is with you." But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, "Go and tell my
servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house since
the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges
of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'" Now
therefore thus you shall say to my servant David, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following
the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cutt off
all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be distrubed
no more; and violent men shall afflict then no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel;
and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise uo your offspring after you, who shall com forth
from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne
of his kingdom forever.
3 In the final analysis, each person is responsible for knowing God's revealed purpose for his own life.
