Tag: wisdom

The Lord Will Be At Your Side

proverbs 3-25-26 imageThe YouTruth in Proverbs 3: 25-26

 

“Have no fear of sudden disaster  or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
for the LORD will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.”

 

Yikes! Sudden disaster doesn’t sound like very much fun. Ruin doesn’t either. God has much to say about avoiding both in today’s passage. To get the full blessing of God’s message it will be important to dial in to the context provided by this passage so we don’t “over-apply” it and face disappointment as a result.

In this chapter of Proverbs, a father instructs his son in the seeking and application of wisdom. As a reader of this chapter today, you get to live vicariously through this father and son relationship. You can also understand that, at its core, the passage reflects the relationship your Heavenly Father longs to have with you. The preceding 24 verses instruct the son that Wisdom is found in God alone, and to vigorously seek after Him to attain true Wisdom. So our passage above relies heavily on this context. Therefore, if you seek after God for Wisdom, He will be, by definition, by your side. And if you have God by your side, He will keep your foot from being snared.

Think about snaring for a minute. When an animal gets its foot snared in a trap, there are usually deadly consequences. Even if the animal can somehow wriggle free, it escapes with significant injuries. In either case, disaster and ruin are good descriptors of the outcome. There are similar consequences for you, if you disregard God’s Wisdom and pursue a path without it. God does not want this for you! He knows how devastating the consequences will be. He loves you so much and desperately wants you to avoid this disaster and ruin.  He also wants you to live a life without the debilitating effects of fearing these things.

Seek after God for wisdom today, and fear not, for He will be at your side. Make today a “snare-free” day!

You Should Ask God (Really, You Should!)

James 1-5 imageThe YouTruth in James 1:5-6

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Do you ever need help sorting out a situation or a relationship? We all do. God has a great idea when you encounter these issues. Ask Him for wisdom. But there is another vital part of the equation that we are not to overlook. So God has another great idea. Listen. Today’s passage helps us understand both parts.
First we can know that our problem is never too petty for God. God will never scold us for asking Him questions because, “You should already know that.” Our passage tells us that God gives wisdom generously without finding fault. So, never hesitate. Ask God. Always ask God.

Hearing God is as important to receiving the wisdom as asking. James reveals in his passage, that belief is the key that opens the ears of our heart to hear what God has to say to us. Without it, we will ask, but we won’t receive! Think about it. If we ask God for wisdom but don’t believe He really holds the answer, we’re just going through motions. This is when doubt creeps in. Doubt is a noisy thing in our heart. With all of the noise of doubt clanging in our heart, we won’t be able to hear God’s sweet voice of wisdom. This is why believing is so important. It keeps doubt out and keeps your heart quiet while God speaks to you.

Need some wisdom today? (Answer, yes.) Go to God believing and He will give generously.

Wisdom Will Enter Your Heart

When we think of wisdom we usually associate it with intellect and knowledge. This view falls well short of God’s version of wisdom and those who hold it miss out on the most powerful aspects of God’s wisdom – it’s based on the absolute truth and its power to change you.

“For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”

Proverbs  2:10 (NIV)

 

Anyone familiar with the goings-on in a kitchen will know that culinary success depends on following the recipe. Each recipe contains ingredients and directions. Leave out an important ingredient and you don’t get what you expect. No yeast in bread will leave it flat. Fail to follow the directions and you’ll also fail. Neglecting to mix the ingredients for cake batter before baking it will result in part cooked egg, part powdery flour. The recipe must be completely followed to arrive at the tasty conclusion. If anything is missing, you get something else. Wisdom has a recipe. It has ingredients. It has directions.  If you seek after wisdom without considering the total recipe, you get something else. As we examine in detail we will find that what world offers up as wisdom comes up short because it is missing important ingredients and directions.

The World and the Mind
For the world, wisdom is thought of as understanding, intelligence, knowledge—all things that reside in the mind. The acquisition of knowledge is an ongoing process of assessing, thinking, and revising one’s point of view to respond to ever-changing input. What constitutes knowledge today, will face certain revision in the future. For example, much of medical practice from the 18th century has been completely refuted by subsequent discoveries about the human body. None of us will be getting a blood-letting to rebalance our bodily fluids from our family doctor this week. This flow of ever-changing knowledge sets worldly wisdom on the swells and currents of a sea of uncertainty. Now let’s be clear—the acquisition of knowledge and understanding is a noble exercise and should be an integral part of a Christian’s walk. They are both mentioned favorably and often throughout Proverbs, chapter 2. We just need to recognize it for what it is—a temporary understanding of the world around us. We also need to remember that having knowledge doesn’t, by itself, compel you to any action. Because one knows how subatomic particles behave when they collide together at near-light speed doesn’t drive any inherent behavior. At best it is morally neutral.

Let’s review:
Ingredients: knowledge, intellect
Directions: think, assess, continually revise
Result: a temporal, morally neutral understanding of the world around us.

Is this what we are really after? Is this truly wisdom? No!
Using this recipe is like setting out to bake a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookies while leaving out the chocolate chips and failing to use the oven! Let’s make it right.

The Missing Ingredient – God
Let’s get God into the mix. If we want to really mean something, base it on the unchanging, absolute truth rather than the flux and volatility of worldly knowledge. God, as the author of the truth is also the source of true wisdom. In fact, wisdom is the fabric of which all of God’s creation is made. To take it a step further, wisdom is the very essence of God designed into all of creation.

The Missing Directions
So how do we incorporate the key ingredient into the mix? The bible gives us three steps to take—the missing directions in the world’s wisdom recipe:

  1. Fear God – coming to the realization that God has all wisdom is the first step. Revering Him as the author of all creation , wisdom, and truth sets a yearning for Him. (Fearing God is not being afraid of God—for more on this read “The Lord Is Your Helper” in our archives.
  2. Invite Him into your heart—when you invite God into your heart through faith in Jesus Christ, His wisdom comes along for the ride! Your heart becomes the vessel that holds God’s wisdom. If you haven’t invited Him into it, you simply won’t have it.
  3. Ask Him for His wisdom –once His wisdom resides in your heart, you simply have to ask for it when you need it, and He will give it to you (see James 2:5)

Now let’s review the total recipe, ingredients, directions and all:
Ingredients: God, knowledge, understanding, intellect
Directions: fear God, invite Him into your heart, ask Him for His wisdom, think, assess, continually revise
Result: solid, bedrock, unchanging principles to apply to every situation you find yourself in and a changed heart to do it with.
That’s the truth.

For wisdom will enter your heart when you fear God, when you invite Him into your heart, and when you ask Him for His wisdom.

That’s the YouTruth – Wisdom Will Enter Your Heart.