I love to coach.  Ever since I can remember I wanted to be coach when I grew up.  Even as I am writing this jlog, I am reminded of my father who coached the little league in our town.  When I was four, he would take me to the practices we had on the football field and I would shag baseballs.  Because there was no backstop, any ball that was missed by the catcher was fair game for me to shag.

One day when the team was having batting practice, my father told me to get a bat and a helmet and get up to the plate.  I can still remember hitting the ball to my father and he threw me out at first, but I vividly remember his coaching me when I was at home plate.  Dad was an example that I wanted to follow.

I did play all through little league and finally got too old to play little league.  No one in the town wanted to volunteer to coach the team so I said I would.  I was just a young teenager, but took on the challenge.  The first year I coached, I sought the counsel of my father along the way and we won the championship game of the district little league tournament.

In fact, we all need counsel along the way on this journey.  It may be seeking help in understanding a math problem that we are having problems with.  We might seek counsel in choosing the right mate or getting advice when those relationships we love begin to unravel.  We may find ourselves in difficult situations at work and a word of advice from a wise mentor could go a long way in solving the problem.

There are plenty of times in life where we need the advice of wise people before we take the next step.  I am reminded of Solomon’s son when he became king.  King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ””
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭12:6-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Throughout life we will have opportunities to be put in situations where we will need the counsel of others in various events and situations.  On this journey, we also have the opportunity to choose who we seek counsel from.  Choose wisely as to who your counselors will be.