Lord, I must put argument in its proper place. The only place I am allowed to argue is with You, not with men. Even with You, Lord, my privilege of argument is limited.
Moses argued with God about the call to go to Egypt (Exodus 3–4). The argument was not to convince God, but to convince Moses. Argument is allowed only until I am convinced. When Moses continued to argue even after God had answered his questions and doubts, God became angry with him. The issue of the argument is always decided by God, and the decision is made before I even open my mouth. But God allows me to argue the issue with Him because He wants to confirm me in the action, not leave me indecisive or confused.
But I must never argue with men. If I give men a message from God and they do not agree with it, I must not argue with them but, rather, leave the issue in the hands of God. He must do the convincing, not I. If I take that prerogative out of God’s hands, I only frustrate His work.
I am allowed to counsel with my Christian colleagues in order to determine the mind of God (Acts 15), but that is different from argument. Argument says, “You will see it my way,” but counsel asks, “What is God telling us to do?” A true disciple counsels but never argues.
Lord, give me grace to overcome my natural tendency to argue, which is carnal, and grace to be Your mouthpiece, not Your lawyer. Give me the grace to display Him who is my “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6, NIV), for He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge and the sweet Persuader of the soul.
“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word” (Isaiah 50:4).
Daily with the King 