I'm Not Good Enough For You
Judges 10:13-14
"Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation."
One of the common characteristics of Israel in the Book of Judges was that after a judge died they would go back to serving the gods of the land. This action wearied God. In fact, it brought God to the point that He told them He would no longer deliver them from their enemies. God continued by saying to them, "Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen;..." God was telling Israel that if He was not good enough for them, then they needed to rely on the gods that did nothing for them.
I believe God is teaching an important principle in this verse that every leader and follower needs to learn. God was teaching that you should not waste your time on people who won't heed your advice. This does not mean that you don't love them, but constantly telling people what to do when you know they are not going to follow it is a waste of your time and theirs. If your advice is not good enough to follow, then let them go follow the advice of whomever they will follow.
There are many preachers who waste their time counseling people who never follow their advice. Preacher, why waste your time with those who never follow your advice? When you constantly spend time giving advice to someone who never follows it, you are taking time away from those who will heed your advice. I don't mind helping people. In fact, I love to help people; however, I am not going to try to help people who don't think my advice is good enough for them. I don't need to pat my ego by saying I counsel all these people. To be honest with you, I would rather spend less time counseling people who want my advice than wasting hours of my time counseling people who will never follow it. God did this with Israel, so why would you not follow His example? I am not saying that you should not help these people, but there must come a time when you tell them to get whoever's advice they are following and stop wasting everyone's time.
Moreover, let me personally encourage you to stop shopping for advice. There are many people who look for advice, not to know what to do, but to find someone who will tell them what they want to do. Christian, you can always find someone who will counsel you to do what you want to do, but that does not always mean that it is right. You need godly advice that will guide you down the pathway God wants you to walk. It may not always be what you want to hear, but if your life is happier because you followed godly advice then you should be satisfied.
Let's be careful about wasting time in the counseling arena. Yes, everyone should get godly counsel, but let's be careful about wasting someone's advice because it is not good enough. If you find someone who doesn't think your advice is good enough for them, then let them go to whoever it is that they think is good enough. It may not be the right thing, but sometimes you have to let people experience ungodly advice so that they will follow godly advice for the rest of their lives. Don't ever give up on people, but don't waste your time with people who never follow what you tell them to do.