JFK once said the secret of success is to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are and give good counsel. He said he wanted to be the dumbest person in the room. Some people make the mistake of doing just the opposite and thus they never grow.
Who counsels God? If God knows all then who can argue, who can disagree, and who could change His mind? I realize this sounds like one of those sophomoric questions designed for who knows what. But, I was reading Genesis 18 where Abram argued with God over the fate of Sodom. One might say that was not an argument, that was a negotiation. So I went to Exodus 32. God is threatening to kill the Israelites because of the golden calf. Moses stepped in with the following result, “Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”
It appears that God is open to hear our ideas. However, there is I Samuel 15:29, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” One might say in the above situations God never changed, He was giving Abram and Moses an opportunity to grow. But that would mean God wasn’t dealing with them in good faith.
We also have Isaiah 1:18, ‘“Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord.” Apparently Isaiah had a different relationship with the Lord than Samuel. What we do know is God made us in His image and has given us rational powers. We know He calls us to be His sons and daughters. Good fathers don’t just order their children around they dialogue with them. What a joy it is to talk with Him.
Written by Roger Bothwell on February 3, 2017
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