power and its abuses, conflict, deception, the pressures of leadership and the impact of suffering. It is a work with Gods shepherds, and frankly, I tremble at the prospect. In recent months, I have had several situations come through my door with the result that I began seeking God anew regarding how He would have me think about, and engage in, this work. I found a treasure I want to pass on to you.
In Isaiah 11 we find the following: The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord and shall make Him of quick understanding (or, and He will delight) in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge¦How we need such qualities as we counsel and teach! How blessed we are to know that we are inhabited by the same Spirit that rested on Christ! (Dr. Ian Jones does a wonderful exposition of this passage in chapter three of the new book on Caring for People Gods Way, by Tim Clinton, Arch Hart and George Ohlschlager.)
We have within us His wisdom, His understanding, His counsel and His knowledge. That means the source of our wisdom is to be internal, not external. We are not to judge by what our eyes see and our ears hear. How hard for us as creatures of the dust who are so tied to the information gathered through our senses. That means in the midst of dealing with a convoluted conflict, wisdom comes from the Spirit, not from the two warring parties. We listen, we digest, we analyze, certainly, but finally, we are to hear the voice of the Spirit in response to the mess in front of us. He will judge in righteousness, which literally means, He will judge according to the character of God. Counseling based on the wisdom of the Spirit and the character of Godwhat a remarkable framework!
I found great challenge and comfort in these words as I faced complicated situations all tangled up with deceptions, secrets and ungodly responses among the people of God. The wisdom would not be mine, the counsel would not have to come from me and the standard by which all would be assessed would be the character of God, not preference, opinion, bias or what would sustain the institution. The outcome rested on the shoulders of the One who carries all.
Then I found my treasure. As if all of the above were somehow not enough, I found hidden in this Scripture a new idea I keep turning over and over in my mind. Verse three is translated both, and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lordand as, He will delight in the fear of the Lord.The idea of quick understanding appeals when one is faced with a complex problem and a 50-minute window. I was curious, however, to know how two seemingly different translations could result from the same original words. The literal translation opened up a new thought to me. The Hebrew word for delight in this passage means, to perceive odor.The verse actually says, He will be quick-scented in the odors of Jehovah.It puts a new slant on phrases about not judging according to the senses. It means to be quick in discerning what smellslike God.
What a critical skill for counseling this is! We can discern what looks right to us. We can tell what we think is wrong or pushes our buttons. But what if what looks right is rotten underneath? What if something looks wrong simply because we do not like it? Are not human judgments often based on assumption or preference? Are they not often arbitrary? If we are to truly judge according to the character of God, then we must be quick-scented people; we must be quick to discern His fragrance.
Such quickness only comes by saturation in Him. How can we tell if something smells like Him if we have not studied Him? How can we tell His fragrance above all others (and some can be very seductive) if we have not immersed ourselves into His character? We are quick to pick up the scent of those we love. That is why giving away the clothes of a loved one who has gone is so difficult. When we pick up an article of their clothing, it seems, just for a moment as if they are there. Find a therapist for immediate help.
May we be a quick-scented people, quick to discern the fragrance of our God because of our great love for Him. And may we so saturate ourselves in Him that His fragrance clings to our lives and is quickly discerned by those who inhabit our world.
