Completely aware

There were numerous times in college when my buddies would go through something and I would want to help them out by the advice that I could give them. On the other hand, there were times that I would go through something and they would try to come up with the things to say to me. My three best friends and I were really close. We all had different traits that we brought to our friendship. Whenever we had something serious to talk about, we would all go into the bedroom or sit in the living room and we would just talk things out. It was always special even though sometimes they had to confront me about things or I would have to confront them. One of the best parts about those moments we had was that we would get rid of all distractions. We would shut off the TV, the video games, and put away our phones. We had each others undivided attention.

When I look back it, these memories were some of the best and most meaningful I had in college. Too often things are just written out in a text. No with my friends. We had high expectations for each other and wanted nothing but the very best out of each other.

To initiate these conversations, all we had to send to the group text was that we needed to talk tonight. That is all it took and when we all knew that, we were going to make every effort to be there for each other.

Although these conversations were some of the most meaningful I had with my friends, there was always one thing that irritated me. When my buddies were not completely aware of the information. That doesn't mean the conversation didn't go well...for me I was frustrated because they were giving my advice that wasn't working, accusing me of something I didn't do, etc. They just didn't know - so nothing against them!

I believe that we have a tendency to want to give advice to people before we know all of the information. We want to help so we try and we usually do help! Just sometimes you might trigger something in somebody that really bothers them.

Blessed is the one who God disciplines.

"Blesses is the one whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty."  (Job 5:17)

In Job, Eliphaz was correct about what he said in verse 17. (above)  It is a blessing to be disciplined by God when we do wrong. Eliphaz thought that Job was suffering for something that he had did wrong, making his advice to Job incorrect. Eliphaz was giving excellent advice only to learn that it did not apply to Job.

Just like how my friends would give me excellent advice but it wouldn't apply to me because they were't completely aware of the situation.

All who offer counsel from God's Word should take care to throughly understand a person's situation before giving advice. 

Next time that you have advice to give, make sure that you are completely aware of the situation.