I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it. Sam Levenson
Cabbage: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head. Ambrose Bierce
It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it. Sam Levenson
Cabbage: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head. Ambrose Bierce
The wisdom of God. Reality is that when we consider the characteristics of God, he is only one person, and his character is singular, yet to begin to fathom God I find it helpful to consider the complexity of who he is in bite size chunks. How do you eat an elephant? ________ How do you understand God? ____________.
God alone has perfect wisdom. Understanding God’s wisdom can begin with wise people we know. My father was a wise man. Four of us once attempted to climb Mt. Shuksan…the steepness of the slope… came up to a crevasse that angled up… we agreed the best way was to continue up on the narrow ledge to go around the 10 foot wide crevasse… it got too icy making the continuation impossible…. Never before have I experience such fear, my knees were literally shaking. My father said, turn around and go down… I had to trust him that he knew what he was doing, that he has experience… as we were turning around and began to descend he said, “BTW, if I should fall into the crevasse, you’ll never hold me and we’ll all be pulled in. If I fall in, you jump down the mountain. If I fall down the mountain, you jump into the crevasse.”
How much more, the wisdom of God? Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
God arranges the events of history to meet his purposes. I don’t understand our world, I am confused by our government. I don’t even understand myself. I must learn to trust God that he knows what he is doing even if I don’t understand. No wonder the Bible calls him, “The only wise God.” (Rom. 16:27). Wisdom is related to knowing what is right and doing the right thing. A child that puts her hand on a hot stove is not a fool, because she does not know. But if a grown up puts his hand in the fire, knowing full well the consequences, then that is foolish. I talk to dozens of folks in this community with life changing addictions and harmful relationships that know the harm it does, yet the behavior continues. Wisdom is putting together the knowledge and actions for a healthy outcome. To say that God is wise means he not only knows what is right, but he does that which is right.
Trust God to get in the middle of your life to bring order. That’s his wisdom. The Lord can even take that which is negative to accomplish his eternal purposes. He has a plan and he will order your life for his plan to be accomplished. That is wisdom talk.
My first year of college I did not make a lot of good choices. I was questioning my faith. I was uncertain. I would get mad at myself for doing that which I knew was wrong and did not want to do. This may sound corny, but I literally would lay in my bed at Washington State University and pray to the Lord because I knew that if I was at a cross roads and had to decide if I was going to live my life for Christ or continue to make bad choices. I decided that, if God was gracious, he would lead me to meet a Christian woman so that I could live a Christian life. It was a matter of trust. For me, at that time, at that age, I honestly sensed God was telling me to leave WSU, and so I transferred to UW in Seattle. Just as I had to trust my own earthly father to turn around on the slopes of Mt. Shuksan, so I had to trust God as I started over in a new place the following year of school. In his wisdom, I met Sally, and my world has never been the same.
The rely on the wisdom of God means we don’t have to understand everything. To trust God is to believe he knows what he is doing. To trust the wisdom of God is to let go. The world has its own wisdom: temptations, force, control. God’s way is different: patience, letting go, humility, trust. In the short term, following the ways of God may be the most frustrating, fearful thing you will ever do, your knees may literally shake, yet in the long term, you will find no more healthy life, a beautiful life of peace and satisfaction. Trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding. Follow him, and he will direct your paths.
The Bible tells us to pray for wisdom. Ask the Lord for his wisdom. The Lord’s wisdom set us on the most fearful and wonderful adventure you can possibily imagine, far greater than the mess of a story we make of our lives when we try to make decisions in our own strength.
I’d like to end with a simple prayer that I believe will speak for many of you. Some of you are perhaps not ready to let go and still want to make it in your own strength. For those who are ready, a simple prayer: “Lord I need you. I don’t know how to negotiate the turns in the road of my life today. Amen.”
God alone has perfect wisdom. Understanding God’s wisdom can begin with wise people we know. My father was a wise man. Four of us once attempted to climb Mt. Shuksan…the steepness of the slope… came up to a crevasse that angled up… we agreed the best way was to continue up on the narrow ledge to go around the 10 foot wide crevasse… it got too icy making the continuation impossible…. Never before have I experience such fear, my knees were literally shaking. My father said, turn around and go down… I had to trust him that he knew what he was doing, that he has experience… as we were turning around and began to descend he said, “BTW, if I should fall into the crevasse, you’ll never hold me and we’ll all be pulled in. If I fall in, you jump down the mountain. If I fall down the mountain, you jump into the crevasse.”
How much more, the wisdom of God? Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
God arranges the events of history to meet his purposes. I don’t understand our world, I am confused by our government. I don’t even understand myself. I must learn to trust God that he knows what he is doing even if I don’t understand. No wonder the Bible calls him, “The only wise God.” (Rom. 16:27). Wisdom is related to knowing what is right and doing the right thing. A child that puts her hand on a hot stove is not a fool, because she does not know. But if a grown up puts his hand in the fire, knowing full well the consequences, then that is foolish. I talk to dozens of folks in this community with life changing addictions and harmful relationships that know the harm it does, yet the behavior continues. Wisdom is putting together the knowledge and actions for a healthy outcome. To say that God is wise means he not only knows what is right, but he does that which is right.
Trust God to get in the middle of your life to bring order. That’s his wisdom. The Lord can even take that which is negative to accomplish his eternal purposes. He has a plan and he will order your life for his plan to be accomplished. That is wisdom talk.
My first year of college I did not make a lot of good choices. I was questioning my faith. I was uncertain. I would get mad at myself for doing that which I knew was wrong and did not want to do. This may sound corny, but I literally would lay in my bed at Washington State University and pray to the Lord because I knew that if I was at a cross roads and had to decide if I was going to live my life for Christ or continue to make bad choices. I decided that, if God was gracious, he would lead me to meet a Christian woman so that I could live a Christian life. It was a matter of trust. For me, at that time, at that age, I honestly sensed God was telling me to leave WSU, and so I transferred to UW in Seattle. Just as I had to trust my own earthly father to turn around on the slopes of Mt. Shuksan, so I had to trust God as I started over in a new place the following year of school. In his wisdom, I met Sally, and my world has never been the same.
The rely on the wisdom of God means we don’t have to understand everything. To trust God is to believe he knows what he is doing. To trust the wisdom of God is to let go. The world has its own wisdom: temptations, force, control. God’s way is different: patience, letting go, humility, trust. In the short term, following the ways of God may be the most frustrating, fearful thing you will ever do, your knees may literally shake, yet in the long term, you will find no more healthy life, a beautiful life of peace and satisfaction. Trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding. Follow him, and he will direct your paths.
The Bible tells us to pray for wisdom. Ask the Lord for his wisdom. The Lord’s wisdom set us on the most fearful and wonderful adventure you can possibily imagine, far greater than the mess of a story we make of our lives when we try to make decisions in our own strength.
I’d like to end with a simple prayer that I believe will speak for many of you. Some of you are perhaps not ready to let go and still want to make it in your own strength. For those who are ready, a simple prayer: “Lord I need you. I don’t know how to negotiate the turns in the road of my life today. Amen.”
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