Most of the time, when confronted with difficult situations, most people tend to seek comfort or advice from friends, family or even their pastor. Today’s verse is telling us that everything we do without consulting God first is worthless and everyone who acts like that “will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace” (verse 5). My brother, my sister, beware not to be considered rebellious by the Lord, for He says: “Woe to the obstinate children…to those who carry out plans that are not mine,forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace” (verses 1-3). Yes, sometimes we consult people for advice that have not pleased God; sometimes we go and take refuge to people who may nurture some bad feelings against us without us even knowing… all that is not pleasing to God since He might not have sent us to those people. When we make decision without the Lord, He calls us rebellious! Why? Because there are always unavoidable consequences to our decisions, and He wants us to always make Spirit-led decisions, for whatever comes from the Lord is good for us. Unfortunately, whenever driven by fear, we tend to search everywhere for comfort, advice and relief, hoping to find an easy way out of our troubles. But, the Word of God says we should instead consult the Lord first, for He wants to be our guide throughout our life. How? By reading His Word and actively seeking to do His will in order to maintain our bond with Him who provides help, guidance and stability in times of crisis. No matter what you are going through right now, consult Jesus first and let Him lead your steps and tell you what do, for He left you with another Comforter (John 14:16) who is ready to accomplish His mission in your life. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name. [facebook] [retweet]