Wonderful Counselor: God Came Near
God Came Near
“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us… and He will be named Wonderful Counselor.”
— Isaiah 9:6
This Advent, we’ve been slowing down to look not just at a moment in a manger, but at a promise spoken centuries earlier. Isaiah wrote to a people overwhelmed by fear, political chaos, spiritual confusion, and failed leadership. Sound familiar? Into that darkness, God did not promise better systems or improved circumstances. He promised a Person.
Before Christmas is about a baby, it’s about God. Scripture reveals one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is love, and love requires relationship. God did not create because He was lonely, nor did He save because He was lacking. Creation and redemption are the overflow of His eternal love. Christmas is where that love steps into time.
Isaiah tells us, “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us.” A child born means Jesus is fully human, entering real pain, weakness, and suffering. A son given means He is fully divine, sent by the Father, carrying the authority of God Himself. Christmas is not sentimental poetry. It is God stepping into history.
The name Wonderful Counselor reveals the kind of Savior Jesus is. “Wonderful” comes from the Hebrew peleʾ— miraculous, supernatural, beyond human ability. This is not advice gathered through experience. It is divine wisdom. And “Counselor” means royal advisor—one who speaks with kingly authority. Jesus doesn’t merely help us see life more clearly. He has the power to transform it.
And here is the heart of it: Jesus didn’t send wisdom from a distance. He came close. Wisdom in Scripture isn’t something we master, it’s Someone we follow.
There are moments when control disappears, when answers are scarce and fear fills the room. In one of those seasons for me, it felt as if Jesus gently took me on a tour of His world and said, “Consider the birds. Consider the livestock. Consider the moon and the stars.” Everything was being cared for. In that moment, the Wonderful Counselor didn’t offer explanations. He offered His presence, quietly reminding me that if God holds all of creation together, He has not lost hold of us.
Jesus still speaks today through the Holy Spirit, who is illuminating Scripture, exposing lies, comforting our hearts, and redirecting us when we wander. When conviction rises, when clarity breaks through confusion, when peace settles in your soul, that is the Counselor at work.
And the Wonderful Counselor doesn’t just guide us; He holds us. Perseverance is not something we achieve, it’s something God supplies. Our hope is not found in how tightly we cling to Him, but in how firmly He is holding us.
So today, you don’t have to figure everything out. You don’t have to manufacture wisdom or force clarity. Jesus didn’t shout His counsel from a distance. He came close—and He will never leave.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we confess that we often trust voices other than Yours. Forgive us, and by Your grace, guide us in Your truth.
Amen.
— Isaiah 9:6
This Advent, we’ve been slowing down to look not just at a moment in a manger, but at a promise spoken centuries earlier. Isaiah wrote to a people overwhelmed by fear, political chaos, spiritual confusion, and failed leadership. Sound familiar? Into that darkness, God did not promise better systems or improved circumstances. He promised a Person.
Before Christmas is about a baby, it’s about God. Scripture reveals one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is love, and love requires relationship. God did not create because He was lonely, nor did He save because He was lacking. Creation and redemption are the overflow of His eternal love. Christmas is where that love steps into time.
Isaiah tells us, “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us.” A child born means Jesus is fully human, entering real pain, weakness, and suffering. A son given means He is fully divine, sent by the Father, carrying the authority of God Himself. Christmas is not sentimental poetry. It is God stepping into history.
The name Wonderful Counselor reveals the kind of Savior Jesus is. “Wonderful” comes from the Hebrew peleʾ— miraculous, supernatural, beyond human ability. This is not advice gathered through experience. It is divine wisdom. And “Counselor” means royal advisor—one who speaks with kingly authority. Jesus doesn’t merely help us see life more clearly. He has the power to transform it.
And here is the heart of it: Jesus didn’t send wisdom from a distance. He came close. Wisdom in Scripture isn’t something we master, it’s Someone we follow.
There are moments when control disappears, when answers are scarce and fear fills the room. In one of those seasons for me, it felt as if Jesus gently took me on a tour of His world and said, “Consider the birds. Consider the livestock. Consider the moon and the stars.” Everything was being cared for. In that moment, the Wonderful Counselor didn’t offer explanations. He offered His presence, quietly reminding me that if God holds all of creation together, He has not lost hold of us.
Jesus still speaks today through the Holy Spirit, who is illuminating Scripture, exposing lies, comforting our hearts, and redirecting us when we wander. When conviction rises, when clarity breaks through confusion, when peace settles in your soul, that is the Counselor at work.
And the Wonderful Counselor doesn’t just guide us; He holds us. Perseverance is not something we achieve, it’s something God supplies. Our hope is not found in how tightly we cling to Him, but in how firmly He is holding us.
So today, you don’t have to figure everything out. You don’t have to manufacture wisdom or force clarity. Jesus didn’t shout His counsel from a distance. He came close—and He will never leave.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we confess that we often trust voices other than Yours. Forgive us, and by Your grace, guide us in Your truth.
Amen.
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