Who's your counselor?

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

(Almost looks like a little Farrell or Cally!)

So apparently, I just have a whole slew of wise friends, because I keep getting wisdom upon wisdom thrown at me these past couple of days! 

Today, a friend of mine and I were discussing the transition from high school to college to the "real world." He described the spiritual journey in terms of shifting authority: when we are young we submit to parents or other church figures for spiritual wisdom, when we go to college that roll often shifts to a fellowship leader, and when we reach the "real world," it's the first time where there is no one to fill that roll of spiritual counselor. Clearly, it doesn't work that way for everyone, but his experience seemed to resonant with mine. 

Since coming to med school, I've felt a burning desire to be taught. I want someone to call me out on my bad decisions, push me to grow further in Christ, and set an example as a godly man or woman. As I expressed this desire to my friend, he surprised me by saying, "Part of growing in spiritual maturity means that you're ultimately accountable to the Lord." 

Sounds like a simple enough concept right? If you asked me, I would never say that I was seeking an accountability partner or mentor because I wanted  someone to supplant the supremacy of the Lord in my life. If I examine my heart though, in some ways, I do want an easy quick person to turn to instead of pushing myself to  turn to the Lord with my problems. While a mentor is wonderful for guidance, I absolutely need the Lord's guidance. While I can feel bad about letting an accountability partner down, I need to learn to recognize the weight of my sin to the Lord. The Lord is often gracious providing us with the mentors and accountability partners that we want and that make the journey easier. Ultimately, however, we have a God that is in the business of providing our needs, not necessarily our wants.

So my proposal is this: maybe when we feel spiritually isolated or lacking in guidance, the Lord is trying to draw us to the ultimate counselor, Himself. Maybe He's taking away the milk we like so much, and is giving us some good solid food. Growing up is always a little scary, just like your first ride on a bicycle without training wheels, but maybe what we need to do is to challenge ourselves to trust that Dad's really going to be there to catch us. 

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.               ~Hebrews 5:13-14