To Feel His Pleasure . . . .

“His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor His delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear Him,
who put their hope in His unfailing love.”
Psalm 147:10-11

As illness took its toll on my body during the past year, I had to stop counseling.and writing.  It is only by God’s grace that I have been able to return to the Counseling Room and, finally, to writing to you again.  For His tender mercies I am truly grateful . . .❤️

While missing the challenges and joys of helping Clients, the two questions I have given much thought to are:

What is it about working in the Counseling Room
that I love so much?
~ and ~
How can I pass this joy in helping to others,
so that He will be glorified?

To be sure, counseling can be difficult work, which is probably why the burn-out rate runs high. But I have continued in this profession for more than three decades as a biblical specialist, and continue to love my work.  The question is, “Why do I love it so much?”  The answer to that question brings a scene from the movie, Chariots of Fire, to mind: 

The story focuses on two runners who won Gold Medals for Great Britain in the 1924 Olympics held in Paris. The first was Scotsman Eric Liddell whose family served as Christian missionaries in China.  The second runner, Harold Abrahams, was a Jew who knew the sting of antisemitism.  It was a scene between Eric and his sister Jenny that sets the stage for what I am talking about here.  Jenny expressed her fear that Eric was losing sight of God’s call to serve Him as a missionary in China.  Eric responded tenderly to his sister, reassuring her that He had NOT forgotten God’s call to return to China.  However, Eric went on to talk about another call that filled him with a special passion: “Jenny, Jenny . . . GOD made me fast! So when I run . . . I feel His pleasure!”  

I can identify with Eric in this. God made me a good listener and gave me a heart for loving and applying Scripture to help hurting people.  When I am privileged to serve someone in that way, I too feel His pleasure.  I cannot take credit for it; it is a gift that I am grateful for.

So very often when I am working in the Counseling Room,
or when I reflect back on what I have witnessed God do in a Client’s heart,
an exhilarating chill runs through me 
and I too feel His pleasure!

It is breathtakingly beautiful and quite humbling to watch as God minister’s through the Scriptures to the brokenness of people.  As we keep God’s voice in the center of our conversation, the comfort and instruction of Scripture does wondrous things:

Hope enters and change comes as God heals.
With that, a quiet strength and courage emerge,
as Clients move forward as God directs their steps.  
A work of art in process in a gritty world . . .
amazing grace . . . how very, very divine!

I started posting on His Glory SM twelve years ago with a desire to encourage and share what God was teaching me in my life and in the Counseling Room.  Even then, my larger goal and hope was to encourage readers to become biblical problem-solvers–the same as my goal in working with Clients. In essence, I have always sought to inspire readers to lean on Christ and the Scriptures for themselves, and to help them view those He puts on their path with His eyes, His mind and His heart.  

From the early days of my walk with Jesus, Proverbs 2 has been an inspiration to me with its invitation to seek and treasure the wisdom contained in Scripture as we honor God with our lives:

My son, if you accept My words
and store up My commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for He guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
(Verses 1-10)

Jesus put it more succinctly but just as powerfully:

“Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
for they will see God. “
Matthew 5:5-8

The recipe for successfully living life well before God
—to feel His pleasure—
is to choose humility in loving your neighbor,
as His Spirit bends the stubbornness of our hearts
toward mercy.
It is in that process that we see and glorify God.

To answer the second question, “How can I pass this joy in helping to others, so that He will be glorified?” I am going to write about the basic approach to helping used at His Glory SM. The beauty of the approach is in its simplicity.  The requirements are: 

 2 Chairs + 2 Bibles + 2 Hearts willing to look at Scripture
and a quiet space to talk and to pray.

Of course, with the goal of helping Clients become biblical problem-solvers, they must be agreeable to reading and thinking about what God says in Scripture.  No matter what the background of a prospective Client is, if they are willing to look at themselves and their problem through the lens of Scripture, I count it a privilege to work with them.

My approach as a biblical specialist grew primarily out of my own spiritual growth experience: I claimed Christ as my Savior as a child, but did not embrace Him as Lord until I was almost thirty. God used what I had wanted most in life–children–to help me recognize that I had a temper that I was unable to control.  My temper combined with a foul mouth are what ultimately brought me to my knees. Blessedly, as God spoke to me through Scripture in those early years and Christ-loving people accepted me where I was (and where I wasn’t)–my heart and life were changed dramatically.*

The format used in this approach to helping is meant for each of the four sections to flow into the next.  I share it here, in the hope that it will provide insight into how you can guide someone looking for help from a biblical perspective.  (If you have someone in mind, put their name in the place of “Client”.)  Also, bear in mind that this is meant to be a process of shepherding–not battering. (I make it a rule when helping someone, not to use any Scripture passage that I have not applied to my own life.)

1. Each Client is welcomed and we quickly get down to the business at hand.  I open us with prayer, thanking God for my Client, for bringing us together and for being with us during our meeting.  It has become my custom to ask Him to: (a) Give me wisdom and sensitivity for each Client’s needs; (b) to direct the path of our conversation and (c)  for God to minister to each Client in ways that only He knows they need.  
2. Client stories are listened to and questions asked with the goal of gaining understanding for myself as their Counselor, but also to encourage my Client to know that they are truly being listened to. (There is a box of tissues on the table next to the Client chair along with framed cross-stitch a friend made especially that says, “Tears Welcome Here.”)
3. Passages from Scripture that pertain to each Client’s needs are accessed using a large-print Bible (I use the NIV for clarity) on the table for them to use. During the Session I ask the Client to read the selected passage aloud. (This may sound awkward, but as the Client reads and responds to what God has said it can be quite moving, after I then ask, “What stands out to you in the passage?” It is always interesting to hear what they see and then talk more broadly about what God is saying.)  As we talk I share some of the ways God used the passage to minister to my heart or bring in other passages to shed light on the subject.  
4. Lastly, we close in prayer, with the Client praying first and then I close.  There are times when a Client may balk, saying that they had never prayed aloud before. (Understandable). But then I explain that since we had just met with God during the Session, it would be rude not to at least thank Him for joining us!  With that, they nod their head, thank God for joining us, and then I close asking God to bless and encourage my Client according to their need.

Before first-time Clients leave, I offer the additional blessing of extending their Counseling through the process of doing  Journey Notes Praise Journaling. (Originally designed to help depressed Clients, it has proved to be extremely helpful to encouraging Clients to continue looking to God for help between Sessions.) I briefly go through the process and have notebooks and pens there for the taking.  

In our quest to feel God’s pleasure the apostle Paul sets our pace with a beautiful example”

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 

All to His Glory!

(In my next post I will talk about how a typical first session using Jeremiah 17:5-10 helps to establish a healthy counseling relationship.)

* There were four main helps God provided that lead to the development of the Counseling approach offered at His Glory SM.  I give special thanks for His provision of:

(1) Community Bible Study (CBS). I surrendered my heart and life to Jesus shortly before joining my first Bible study in 1978. I attribute my love for and confidence in Scripture to have been consistently nurtured by CBS and consistent biblical teaching and preaching in my church since then.
 (2) A great mentor, Jim Dundas, at Hope Counseling Center–who patiently extended his wisdom and perspective as a former Navy Chaplin and Pastor (often quite humorous!) to me.  It was Jim who supported me in building this Christ-centered approach to ministering to Clients.  
(3) I am also grateful for the practical insights and approach to ministering to hurting people set by the Christian Counseling Educational Foundation (CCEF).
(4) Last, and certainly not least, to Grace Church in Dover, DE–for providing office space (free-of-charge) for the past fifteen years.  Because of their generosity, I have been able to offer my services without requiring payment so that finances were never a deterrent to anyone seeking help.