Why Do We Need Guidance Every Day ? Because Our Judgement Sucks
Many people think they are wise and make good decisions most of the time. Some people understand that they need guidance every day because they are human and they know they screw up all the time. That would be me. I constantly seek guidance and direction because I know that if I don’t, I’m going to make bad decisions. I’m going to make a bad choice because of being selfish, prideful, in a hurry or just plain lazy. These are the main culprits that interfere with my decisions. Many times I choose what is easy or convenient. We all do. That is why we need guidance and wisdom.
The Hard Road is the Best Road
Most of the time, when it comes to doing the right thing, that usually means doing the thing that is the most difficult. The road with the most obstacles and challenges is the road that leads to wisdom,maturity and clarity. Jesus talked about this,
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:9-14 NIV
Jesus also said in Matthew 6:34 that each day has enough trouble of its own. “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Think about that phrase, “its own trouble”? Like, what is today? Monday. Okay, there’s Tuesday trouble. Guess what? There’s Wednesday trouble. Then there is Thursday’s trouble and on and on. That is why we need guidance every day. Every day brings its own trouble.
Even Experts Make Mistakes
When it comes to faulty judgement, we don’t have to search hard to find examples that give us a clear idea why guidance is so important. Just off the top of my head I can think of three examples:
Bruce Springsteen almost threw away the recordings for his first breakthrough album “Born to Run.” He had to be convinced to release that album. Part of his reason for not wanting to release the album was fear. This is a good example to seek guidance and don’t let your fear stand in the way of your purpose. Here is the interview in it’s entirety.
When you heard a mastered version of the album, you hated it and threw it into a pool. You’ve said the truth is that you were afraid. What were you afraid of?
“I’ve always had a bit of an ambivalent attitude towards… what was I afraid of? Change, I don’t know [laughs]. Also, it was a moment when your music was the totality of your identity, and so you were so caught up and so invested in it. Part of what made the record good is that we went to extremes to structure it and compose it and play it in this very detailed and drive-yourself-crazy fashion. I hadn’t listened to it in about 20 years or so, and I recently listened to it because we remastered it and I said, “Wow.” It held up really well, because it was just structured and built like a tank. It was indestructible, and that came from an enormous amount of time that we put in, an unhealthy amount of obsessive-compulsiveness. So part of it was, I was afraid of releasing the record and just saying, “Well, this is who I am,” for all the obvious reasons that people are afraid of exposure and putting themselves out there: This is who I am, this is everything I know, this is my best, this is the best I can do right now.”
Stephen King’s first breakthrough book was Carrie. He had thrown away a first draft manuscript in the trash and his wife pulled it out and looked at it and convinced Stephen that this was a good manuscript and he should finish the book.
When King started, he typed three single-spaced pages, crumpled them up in anger, and dumped them in the trashcan. He was disappointed in himself. His critics were right—he couldn’t write from a woman’s perspective. The whole story disgusted him, too. Carrie White was an annoying, ready-made victim. Worse yet, the plot was already moving too slowly, which meant the finished product would be too long for any magazine.
“I couldn’t see wasting two weeks, maybe even a month, creating a novella I didn’t like and wouldn’t be able to sell,” King wrote in his memoir On Writing. “So I threw it away … After all, who wanted to read a book about a poor girl with menstrual problems?”
The next day, Tabby went to empty the trash in the laundry room and found three crinkled balls of paper. She reached in, brushed off a coat of cigarette ashes, and unwrinkled the pages. When King came home from work, she still had them.
“You’ve got something here,” she said. “I really think you do.” Over the next few weeks, Tabby guided her husband through the world of women, giving tips on how to mold the characters and the famous shower scene. Nine months later, King had polished off the final draft.
Just yesterday I was watching a documentary about future baseball hall of fame pitcher Roy Halladay. He died in a plane accident while flying over water in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast. Witnesses report that he was flying low over the water and doing dangerous tricks. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/video-shows-moments-roy-halladay-plane-crash-51035147
The one thing that got my attention was the comment his father made in an interview. His father got Roy interested in flying at an early age, he did not regret that decision but he said that he regretted “Roy’s decision to fly that low and I’m pretty sure Roy regrets that decision too.” Sometimes our bad judgement has an impact on those around us. Roy left behind a wife and two young boys.
Seek Wisdom Outside of Yourself
We need a source of guidance and wisdom that is outside of ourselves. We can’t follow our hearts because our hearts are wrong a lot of the time. Even when it comes to our passions. Bruce Springsteen is a musician. Stephen King is a writer. Roy Halladay loved flying airplanes. These men were engaged in their passions creating or engaging in the thing they loved most, but their judgement was off.
When I was in medical school, I remember something that a professor once said that I repeat often when a consultant or a colleague wants to go in a direction that I think is unwise in the care of a patient, “Smart doctors, dumb doctors, the best doctors are the ones that are the most careful.” I would have to add that the smart doctors are the ones who are the most humble and the most willing to ask for help when they need it. I’ve seen pride that ends up killing a patient. It’s real.
The Guidance That Counts
When it comes to our source for wisdom, guidance and direction, it all begins in the Word. It is the primary way that God speaks to us. From there we can seek great teachers or good books to help us find answers to the questions we have. But we start with good questions. Starting in the morning with a quiet time with Jesus in prayer and in the Word will help you make good decisions. Being humble and willing to listen for guidance is the beginning of wisdom. We have to keep in mind that God loves us. He wants what is best for us. We just need to be patient and willing to work to find the valuable guidance we need for every situation. The one thing that we need to be wary of is the idea to “follow your heart.”
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9
When Human Advice Has Value
If we rely on God and ask for His guidance, we may still stumble and there may still be failure and we are going to fail, but we know and have faith that in the end, it was for our own good and betterment. God loves us. Jesus loves us. The Holy Spirit guides us. They are looking out for our best interests.
It is reasonable to ask people for advice but we should start with experience. We should find people who have experience with the type of situations we are involved in. Then the next step is to find people who have experience and who also love and care about us. There is value in guidance that comes from experience and in guidance that comes from a place of unconditional love. If someone you love is telling you to do something or advising you, most likely it is advice that has a solid base. Sometimes you need someone who cares about you and who is outside the bubble of your experience to be objective when they give you advice. In other words, they can see things from a birds eye view and have a better understanding of the situation you are involved in. (See Bruce Springsteen and Stephen King examples above)
The Value of Our Faith
One thing we always forget and take for granted is the supernatural power available to us. We are involved in the ministry of the Spirit.
Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenent- not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NIV
When it comes to our passion and purpose, these are gifts given to us by the grace of God. If we ignore them then we are ignoring our gifts.
It is my belief that “Works” are “can’t not” propositions and “only I” propositions. But they arise out of our unique God given gifts of Passion and Purpose. They are gifts of God’s grace. Grace is undeserved favor. If we ignore our passion and purpose we ignore HIS grace. It’s kind of like if your parents bought you a brand new car when you graduated from college and when you moved to another city to start your new job, you just left the shiny, new car in the garage.
– Discover Your Passion, Release Your Power
We have to tap into the supernatural power available to us by the Holy Spirit and by our faith. We have tools, energy, wisdom and guidance available to us at all times. We are in a battle and there are weapons sitting on the table. If we don’t spend time in prayer and in the Word, we are fighting with human, natural weapons. Those aren’t very effective when it comes to a ministry of the Spirit and spiritual warfare.
Jesus Brings Value
As I have written in my books, I spend a fair amount of time watching debates between atheists and Christians on topics of objective morality, the existence of God, the reliability of the Gospels and the Resurrection. These are wonderful learning experiences because the people who are engaging in these debates are experts on the New Testament, theology and philosophy. One of the atheist debaters who I’ve seen many times is Sam Harris. He is a New York Times best selling author and staunch atheist.
It was fascinating to hear something the other day that Sam said in an interview, “It’s no surprise, atheism is not a philosophy, atheism is nothing. Clearly there is a hunger for wisdom that the secular community has not been answering in any kind of reliable way. Atheism doesn’t give you anything that makes you live a meaningful life.”
Here is a link to that interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToAWzBGSYo0&t=495s
Sam is saying is:
1. Atheism is nothing
2. Atheism does nothing to help quench your hunger for wisdom
3. Atheism brings nothing to the table to help you finding meaning in your life
It is nothing and offers nothing. My question is, if atheism is nothing and offers nothing, why promote and defend it so vigorously? Where is the value?
Here is the bottom line. Our faith is the exact opposite. Christianity is everything. Jesus is everything.
Why follow Jesus? He brings a tremendous amount of value to the table. These are just a few examples:
1. He is the most powerful man who ever lived
2. He suffered more than any human being ever has, for us
3. He loves us more than any human being ever could
4. He offers us the hope of salvation (our sins are forgiven)
5. He is the most humble person who ever lived
6. He is the smartest person who ever lived
7. He is the only person who was ever bodily resurrected to eternal life
8. He gives us a purpose and gives meaning to our lives
9. He has prepared a place for us that is beyond our wildest imaginations
10. He guides us and helps us with our decisions and our choices because he wants what is best for us
We have to tell others about all the value that Jesus brings to the table, if not for the simple reason that we want to be acknowledged by him before God.
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 10:32 NIV
I would like to extend the offer for a free copy of my new book, “Discover Your Passion, Release Your Power:How to Fulfill Your Purpose in the power of the Authentic Self” in any form you would like. If you would like an advance review paperback copy, email your home address to bravethewaveweride@gmail.com. If you would like a pdf or kindle version of the book just email the request to bravethewaveweride@gmail.com and I will send it to you. I am hoping to get some reviews for the book. Any help with those reviews would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you know any other people in the family of believers that are having a particularly tough time during this pandemic, please forward this email to them.
I still have only one review for my book and it isn’t great. Satan 1 Johnny 0
Any help with reviews would be greatly appreciated!!
Your Brother in Christ
Johnny
bravethewaveweride@gmail.com
bravethewave.org