Seek God's guidance in making choices

Seek God's guidance in making choices
"Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For the LORD had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom" - 2 Sam 17:14

David was fleeing from his son Absalom, who was staging a coup in Israel. Ahithophel had previously been highly regarded by David, for his wisdom, and now Ahithophel had turned away from David and sided with his son Absalom. Hushai was loyal to David and also was known for his wisdom. He stays in Jerusalem with Absolom with the intention of informing David of Absalom's plans. Ahithophel advises that they should go after David immediately before he has time to rest, and secure the kingdom. Hushai gives bad advice for a good cause, and tries to stall Absalom by reminding him of David's warrior reputation and that Absalom needs to get the whole army together before attacking David.

God causes Absalom to listen to the wrong advice, and as a result David's life is spared, and ultimately Absalom loses his life. The lesson here is that what may appear to be wise on a human level, may not be God's intention. We always need to involve God in our decision making. When we are deciding which job to apply for, whether or not to move to a different city, which house we should buy or rent, whether the person we are seeing is the one we should marry - we need to ask the Lord to guide our decision-making. His plans may be different than our's.

"Lord, I pray that you would guide my steps today, and that you would protect me from deciding to do things that would be contrary to your intentions for me. Teach me to think like you, and open my eyes and ears to what you are saying. In Jesus' name, amen."