[“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12)
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me” (John 6:57).
(Anticipating the Second Coming) “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.” Revelation 11:17]
The omniscient God wants us to know that “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19b NASB).
We must know the enormous vastness of this “Because” and be able to comprehend it, feeble though our comprehension may turn out to be. The eternal truth of this “Because” keeps us alive. This is the ultimate existential truth and the only thesis potently guiding the universe. [“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” – Col. 1:17.] Everything else is the antithesis of this great existential truth of the “Because.” As you go along in thoroughfares and back alleys of life, I dare say, as counselors we are enabled to counsel and we become competent to counsel “Because.” We can do far more exceedingly than anything you ask or even imagine by the power of this “Because” that is at work within us. [“… for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”- Phil. 2:13].
Wherever we go, the “Because” factor that is at work within us never changes. Whatever we do to glorify His name is blessed. This power is ours for the asking. The power is invested within us in an abiding manner, granting us the freedom to abide in Him. When that happens, we have arrived at our destination to disburse blessing through counseling. Our going takes us to counsel in the power that dwells in us by virtue of our abiding relationship of being in Him and He in us. “Because” of this fact we have all the power we need to counsel as we go along in abiding and producing His fruits in counseling. The humility to say, “not I, Lord, but your strength manifested in my weakness” brings things to pass; it is the operational saving grace.
A Christian counselor can never operate in his/her strength alone. She/he has a Partner who has given her/him
- His life (John 10:10),
- His love (John 13:34),
- His peace (John 14:27),
- His power (John 15:5) and
- His Spirit (John 20:22).
These are sufficient in itself, forming a veritable rock-base to stand on, a fort for the counselor to operate from, and the total confidence to face any situation, however impossible.
An excerpt from The Making of a Christian Counselor, by Alex Mathew, pp. 34,35. Published by Authentic Books (a division of OM Books Foundation), India, 2014 www.authenticindia.in Alex’s previous book, Beyond Techniques, is available through Abiding Life Ministries.
Bracketed content added (NKJV)