In earlier days of adjusting to all the very sudden changes ill health brought into life I was greatly blessed by a Counsellor with whom I was paired by the Church of Scotland. Those Counselling sessions were invaluable to me so in what I am about to say, I want you to keep in mind my great thankfulness and indebtedness to the Counselling ministry.

I want to share a dream I had while still working as a minister. The dream was about a lady I had never met. I had no reason to believe during or after the dream that she was anything other than a figment of my imagination. In the dream she was involved in counselling young adult Christians in a church setting.  There was however in the dream a sense of seediness and decadence. The impression was that she was counselling people towards worldly ideas of wellbeing and wholeness even when it meant departure from the ways of God and the teaching of the bible. She could have been a secular counsellor, but in the dream her ministry was definitely happening in a church. There were very few in the dream who were not passing in and out of the hand of her influence. Here is where it gets strange….within a week of that dream I met that very woman. She looked exactly as she had looked in the dream. Despite not knowing her, I felt I just had to talk with her. It turned out that out she was indeed invovled in the ministry of counselling in a church setting.

If or when you are aware that the Spirit of God is leading you towards seeking out the help of a Counsellor, I hope and pray that somehow you will experience a good “match” as was brought about for me. At the same time I would urge you have the same caution as should be exercised when receiving any ministry. Number 1 rule for me would be, “As a result of this ministry, am I being helped to make my own choices of faith, trust  and obedience into the paths of God revealed in his Word, the Scriptures, and in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ?” For me that is the test I would expect people to apply to preaching, bible teaching, prophecy, prayer ministry etc. The ministry of Counselling should not be excused from that same positive scrutiny.

I am not sure why I felt led to write about that memory at this point. Perhaps there is someone reading this who has to choose between where a counselling session seems to be leading and where God would lead you by His Word and by His Spirit? Perhaps you are considering going for counselling. I hope what I have written here will not discourage you, but may be helpful truth and grace from God as you pursue that possibility.

God bless

Kenny