Lent Day 30: Counseling

Today I wore many hats. One of them was counselor. I listened to different people with different problems and provided a safe place to explore emotions. It is a job that comes with heavy responsibility where you try to strike a balance between just being a safe place for them to discover their own solutions and offering alternatives that come from having a different perspective and set of life experiences.

I took some time to pray in the afternoon for wisdom. And in my petitions I asked God to send a wise counselor, wiser than me.... Then, I realized, that's the name of the Holy Spirit. I reflected on the Holy Spirit and its role in prayer.... To work in us as we bring our concerns to God, helping us more deeply reflect and discover our  own solutions and to offer us alternatives through scripture, wise words of others, aha moments.

I sometimes think its tricky in prayer to hear what God might be telling me. But if the Holy Spirit is the wisest of counselors, then maybe it doesn't matter so much which is my voice and which is His. It matters more that we speak often and that I bring all my toughest issues rather than try to just muddle through it on my own. If nothing more than to allow the Holy Spirit question me revealing my own heart to me and to give me strength to tackle changes I need to make in myself to be formed into the creation God intended me to be.