He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Revelation 2:11a) .
Now then, my sons,
listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her and do not go near
the door of her house, or you will give your vigor to others and your years to
the cruel one; And strangers will be filled with your strength and your
hard-earned goods will go to the house of an alien; and you groan at your final
end, when your flesh and your body are consumed; and you say, “How I have hated
instruction! And my heart spurned reproof!
“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to
my instructors! “I was almost in utter ruin in the midst of the assembly and
congregation.” (Ibid. Proverbs 5:7-14)
Of course,
no one likes to be told what they are doing wrong. In such times, we may feel attacked and that
will make us move to the defensive.
However, if you are going to engage in Spiritual Guidance, then there
may be times that your spiritual life will be scrutinized. Therefore, trust is necessary in the
relationship. That trust is also a two-way
street, because if you’re going to be open to receiving you feedback, then
you’re also going to need to act upon it.
Perhaps,
you’re familiar with the saying, “Can’t see the forest through the trees.” Many of us experience the idea expressed in
this phrase and know there are times that we can’t see the big picture. It takes someone else expressing things from
their perspective for us to see the big picture. This story bears repeating and may explain it
better.[1] In some town, there was an only railroad
bridge that passed over the main street.
One time a truck didn’t have enough clearance when it tried to go under
that bridge and it became stuck. There
was a little boy who lived nearby, and he came out to watch the commotion. They tried to back the truck out, but it was
stuck good. They tried to raise the bridge
using jacks, but that didn’t work either.
The whole town was in a hubbub, with some people saying they’ll need to
cut part of the bridge out. Others were
saying they’ll need to cut part of the truck off. Then, the little boy said, “Why not let some
of the air out of the tires? That will
lower the truck and then it can drive out from the bridge.”
This story
is an excellent example of what a spiritual guidance can be. You may describe how your truck is stuck
under one of life’s bridges and although you’ve tried and tried, it just won’t
get unstuck. A guide can listen, and in
a mode of prayer, also listens for the Holy Spirit to bring Scriptures to mind
or thoughts from their spiritual journey.
If your guide has a strong Biblical background, understands grace and
love, then from their perspective, they may be able to ask questions or make
suggestions on how you may continue to grow spiritually.
Written by Pastor Ozzy
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Works Cited
1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible.
LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.
[1]
Whatever the source of this story, I've long forgotten where I first heard or
read it. It's not mine and probably
needs a citation.
