How Christmas Beats Coronavirus - Counsellor

Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:5‭-‬7 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.9.5-7.NIVUK

Would it be bad to say that I have no nice memories of my careers counsellor at school? I have vague memories of taking a personality test - probably Myers-Briggs. I have no recollection of the results. I have no idea what it told me. What I do know is that for years after that meeting and the test I still had no idea what to do with my life. That's not to decry their work. It just had little impact on me. This is not that type of counsellor. We have a friend who is part of our local council. She got sick and tired of campaigning on a certain issue, decided "If you can't beat them, then join them", joined a political party closest to her ideals, got elected and resolved the issue. I have to admire her tenacity. But this is not that type of counsellor. I even needed a different type of counselling. In 2001 I came home from a bad situation in Romania to watch my father die in two weeks from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I needed help processing what had happened so I could get back on my feet. Nothing wrong with that at all. In many countries, we are blessed with plentiful supplies of psychology and counselling services. We've come through scary times. If we need someone to talk to, then we should. I feel for those who do not have this blessing. But this is not even that type of counsellor. No, this is so, so much more. Yes, Jesus is someone we can talk to in prayer. Absolutely. His is a helpline that is free of charge and knows no time limit. But He has one huge advantage over every other counsellor, psychological, psychotherapist or doctor: He made us (John 1:3). He doesn't need a survey or a questionnaire or a free session to get to known us. He even knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30). He knows our every need even before we voice them (Matthew 6:7-8). He has even lived our human life (Hebrews 4:15-16) and borne our pain and suffering (Isaiah 53:3-4). He knows us and understands us in a way that even we ourselves do not. That makes Him uniquely qualified to counsel us - to give us guidance, direction and advice about our situation. More than that, part of His work was the sending of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is sent to guide us into all truth (John 16:12-15). That is, He is there so we know what to believe, so we can tell the difference between the lie and the truth. Given there are so many lies being spread at the moment, so many conspiracy theories and conjectures and accusations, then we need this work more than ever. He also represents us. The Holy Spirit takes our prayers, clumsy though they are, and brings then before the Throne of God (Romans 8:26-27). He represents us before the Counsel of God where our requests are heard and answered. There is an old hymn that says: "What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer Oh, what peace we often forfeit Oh, what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer." If you are hurting right now: if you are in deep pain and the very thought of trying to have a family celebration fills you with dread, then don't lose heart. Don't drown your sorrows. And definitely don't spend a fortune trying to give yourself a nice Christmas so you forget the pain for a few days. None of these will fix your problem. Remember that Jesus was promised as a counsellor for this weary, war-torn, battle-scarred land. Talk to Him. Pray to Him. Bring Him all your trouble and pain and fears. Call on the Divine Counsellor and ask Him to help you with your situation. I can't promise you a tree stacked with presents, a table packed with food or turkey sandwiches you'll be eating until Easter, but I can promise you this: there is no better counsellor than Jesus. Next, we will look at Jesus' name of MIGHTY GOD.