Joel M Bradshaw

8It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.–Psalm 118

A major difference between Biblical and secular counseling is found in anthropology. I have spoken with secular coaches and counselors who have said a version of this: “the answer to your problem lies somewhere inside you or your past or your story. my role is simply to help you retrieve it or organize your story so you understand it.”

And I can respect that process. I just don’t agree with it. Biblical anthropology doesn’t proclaim that man is the answer, but rather the problem. Each of us is in our own way selfish and self-oriented. We want to follow our hearts, even though our hearts lead us astray.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

We each are sinners and that struggle is real.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. (Psalm 51:3)

Our hope is to be found not in ourselves, but in the very God who created us, knows us better than we know ourselves, and has given us his Word to guide us.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!…Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!–Psalm 139:1, 23-24

The first line of today’s psalm speaks of categories. It’s better to trust in God rather than man. The second line gets specific. It’s better to trust in God than in other people. If it helps, substitute celebrities and politicians for princes.

You may disagree with my anthropology. You may want to love yourself, follow your heart, and spend life seeking yourself, finding yourself, and pursuing yourself. Paying someone an hourly rate to help you talk about you may just be up your alley.

But I’m tired of myself. If I don’t deny myself, I will never properly follow Jesus. In my depression the story I tell myself becomes like my biggest enemy. My selfish reactions to life lead to most of my bad choices. I am at my core sinful and prideful. I need God working through the pages of the Bible to guide me, to discipline me. I need the Holy Spirit to help me become more like Jesus and less like me. Jesus must increase and I must decrease!

So in whom do you put your trusts as you deal with the difficult seasons of life? In yourself? In others? Or in God? And if God, do you read the Bible regularly? Are you intentionally part of a local church? Do you have a mentor, pastor, or biblical counselor who can journey with you and open the Bible with you? Do you find your greatest hope in Jesus or in yourself?–JMB