Questions about Counselors

We received the following important question: 

Do you think it is a sin to see a counselor? If I need help to find ways to deal with my stress and I think a counselor would help is that wrong?

RESPONSE:

Prov. 11:14 - Where there is no counsel, the people fall;
But in the multitude of counselors there is safety. 

There is no doubt that it is not a sin to seek a counselor. Quite to the opposite you should see as many counselors as you can! The question that you want to be asking is what kind of counselor should you be seeking. Start with the people closest to you who know you and are of a Godly character…friends, parents, other Christian family members. Next, seek the godly leaders of your church who can pray with you and give you godly biblical wisdom. If you are at a point where you think you need professional help you should seek a counselor who is a believer in Jesus Christ. There can be medical and even biological features to stress and anxiety that may need attention…but you want to receive that kind of attention from someone who also understands what it means to be spiritually alive in Christ. Materialist and atheist counselors, who operate from an evolutionary mindset may jump to using drugs or ungodly suggestions to help cope with your stress. Seek a counselor by all means…but be quite certain that counselor is a believer with a right view of the fundamentals of the faith.

On a personal note I would add that stress is the challenge through which the Lord is taking you. It is never promised that the Lord will remove our trials…only that we must rely upon him through those trials. Paul had some unknown medical issue that plagued him throughout his ministry…he prayed that God would take that away, but God refused and 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us:

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.