The Therapist

Dear Friends,

One of my favorite passages to meditate on at this time of year is Isaiah 9:6, which says: “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.  The government will rest on His shoulders.  And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

I love to ponder this verse during the Christmas season for many reasons. The words were written several hundred years before Jesus was born, so it’s another example of God’s plan for His creation woven through time. But the verses not only predict the birth of Jesus, they also describe the different roles that Jesus will play in the lives of those who follow Him. So it challenges us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, while at the same time, encourages us with how our lives can be different because of Christmas. And Isaiah does this with a simple pattern - he gives us a noun that explains WHAT Jesus will do for us, and then adds in an adjective that tells us HOW Jesus will do these things for us.

For the past few days I’ve been especially pondering the first noun/adjective combination - “wonderful counselor”. According to the dictionary, a “counselor” is defined as, “someone who gives advice, or instruction”. This really is a great place to start when talking about the role that Jesus plays in our lives because He IS a counselor to us. And because He’s the Son of God, He’s able to reveal the mind of God to us - meaning that He gives us input from God’s perspective, which is a wonderful thing for us to have access to.

So if we have questions about life - about anything from relationships, to work, to money, to our futures, to what happens after we die - we can turn to Jesus and He will guide and instruct us from God’s point of view. Some of the primary ways He gives us this counsel is through the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and through the church. By doing this - by being our “wonderful Counselor” - Jesus helps us understand how our Creator not only designed us to live, but also how He desires for us to live. And He does all of this because He understands us, He cares about us, and He’s committed to us.

So how does all of this help us get ready for Christmas? Well, first of all, it helps us understand the reality of what God gave us over 2,000 years ago. It’s not just a sweet story for us to tell each other once a year - instead, 2,000 years ago, God gave us a wonderful counselor. The gift is already given, the only thing left for us to do is accept the gift and actually show up for our times with Him. So let’s do that. Let’s all take time to be with our wonderful counselor. Let’s turn to Him with our questions and concerns - let’s turn to Him with our worries and cares - and let’s turn to Him with our hearts and minds open to receive His loving counsel and direction for every area of our lives.

Amen? Daniel