Mentors

The mighty men of old, how they can teach us. If we will only open our eyes and our ears for what they have to say to us, we can learn from them in ways that we could never imagine. David, the man after God's own heart. Have you ever noticed that he had Nathan? Nathan was the one who told David the truth about what he saw in David's life. David the king of kings, had a counselor. Everyone needs someone who will tell them the truth, even if that truth hurts. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Have you noticed that he had no one who would give him counsel? No one ever told him his faults, nor pointed out his sin. He was the wisest man, yet his heart turned from God. He surrounded himself with unbelievers, and the wisest man became a fool with his own life. Elijah, he was God's personal messenger, and yet right after he had one of his biggest triumphs with God, he prayed he would die. He felt like he was the only one left who stood with the Lord. He had no one to walk with him on his journey, and this aloneness became one of his greatest struggles. Counselors, friends, we all need someone who will walk with us in truth and love.

2 John 4-6, "How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded. I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning." Through this journey of life, we all have people surrounding us. In one situation we find that we are the mentor for others. In another place, we find that we are the ones needing the mentoring. No one is immune to this. We all need others with us on this journey. If you think that you do not need to listen to others and that you are fine without their counsel, beware, this is how Solomon felt. David was king and yet he humbled himself enough to listen to Nathan's counsel. Elijah had a most wonderful relationship with God, but his greatest defeat came right after one of his greatest victories; for he was all alone. We need others to walk with us in truth and love, and we need to walk with others with truth and love ourselves.

As I look at my life and the people that influenced me the most, I have to look at the truth in myself and how I have influenced others. I have been been the fool, but I did not have wise counsel and when I was given warnings, I did not listen. I thought that I could do it myself. It was in this, that I found out how far from God I could stray. I spent several years alone with God. This time was good, for I learned how much He loved me, but I needed a friend to walk with me. God has given me friends to walk with me on this journey. They are all different ages. Some are my mentors. They have raised their families and learned to love their husbands. Others are my peers. They are my mighty women. These women walk beside me, going through life at the same stage, learning with me. Yet, others are the sweet young women who are just starting out on their journey of finding who they are. I may be one of their mentors, sharing my joys, pain, and love with them as they learn who God is.

Have you stepped back from your busy life to see the others around you? Do you know who is influencing you the most? Do you know who and how you are influencing others? Oh, don't be deceived. You are influencing others. The question is.... is it for good or is it for bad? Everyone needs someone who can counsel them. Everyone, no matter how strong their relationship with Christ is, needs someone to walk with them and experience and learn life with them. Everyone has someone watching and learning from them. If you have someone willing to love you in truth, you may be blessed as David was blessed. His heart stayed for God, all because his counselor was willing to tell him the hard truth. If you think you need no one's advise, you may be in danger of turning your heart from God like Solomon did. If you are walking high with God, yet you are alone and have no one walking beside you, you are in danger of becoming defeated right after your greatest victory as Elijah did. Do we know that we are someones mentor? Do we know that we need a mentor?

Oswald Chambers, "There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our lives, and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him." The time will come in our life when we need someone to remind us of our victory through the storm. Another time will come when we will need to walk with them through theirs. It is all about love in truth. We must have relationships to build us in love. We must be that for others.