Three Lighthouses

July 7

Plans fail. Good intentions go awry. At our best, we are prone to taking the misstep that will derail our expectations and frustrate our goals. Psalm 94:11 states our dilemma quite clearly, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man; He knows they are futile.” Even for the man who attains temporal success, achievements are temporary.

All that he has acquired, all the power he has wielded, will fall to someone else the moment he breathes his last. Man’s thoughts, man’s plans are subject to the whims of circumstance as well as to his own proclivity to misread opportunity and misjudge the outcome of his endeavors.

Proverbs 12:5 tells us, “The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.” This brief statement is full of sound observation and it is worthy of our appropriation. When we are seeking counsel to determine the way we should go and the goals we should seek, we should not rely entirely upon ourselves but we should seek wise counsel. If someone advises us to enter a scheme that seems too good to be true, we should recognize that it probably is. What, then, are the elements of counsel that we should appropriate?

It is said that there is a treacherous area along the coast of North Carolina where there are three lighthouses. Only when the three lighthouses align as one, may the mariner know he can proceed safely. In life, there are ‘three lighthouses’ to guide us as we navigate life’s tempestuous sea—the counsel of godly people, the Bible which is the Word of God, and the voice of the Holy Spirit within. When these three align, the searcher for truth may accept that he is headed in the right direction to achieve temporal and eternal goals that are godly.