Wisdom

It wasn’t her finest display of wisdom. After waking up bright and early on Saturday morning, Amanda and I headed downstairs to get some breakfast. As though her eyes were trained to spot it from a very far distance, she quickly pointed to her bottle of milk that I had left out the night before. “BAH! BAH!” she screamed…(code name for ‘milk’).

I quickly snatched it before she could reach it herself. What a sad moment that would have been when she would discover that the milk she craved so much was actually sour from having been left out the entire night. She of course didn’t understand my loving gesture. All she knew was that I was depriving her of what she wanted. And so she began to whine and complain. “BAH, BAH?” as a question. “BAH! BAH!” as a demand. I tried to clearly explain that I was just going to wash the bottle, pour some fresh milk and heat it up for her. “You’ll be so happy when I finish Amanda. It will taste so much better when I’m done.” But it was futile. She wanted the Bah, and she wanted it immediately. She didn’t understand my wisdom…and reacted with a full force protest against my actions.

From the outside what she was demanding was actually quite logical. I mean, weren’t we heading downstairs for milk? Wasn’t that the plan? And wasn’t that her bottle filled with milk? So where was the problem? It was only when you stepped outside the basic facts to see the whole picture that it made more sense. Yes she wanted breakfast, yes this was milk…but it wasn’t exactly what it looked. This milk wasn’t right…it wasn’t good for her. Her wisdom didn’t allow her to understand that.

Her wisdom was limited. And so often…ours is as well.

BACK TO OUR FOUNDATION
Last week I was supposed to continue writing about the foundation of our lives – namely, the character of God. But I never did. It wasn’t that I forgot. It wasn’t that I was too busy. It’s just that – this topic is so hard! And so in my “wisdom” I decided to procrastinate instead. So after spending a little bit more time preparing, I hope I can do this topic some justice. Today I want to look at how another aspect of God’s character – His wisdom – serves as the true and sure foundation for our lives.

BUT FIRST…DO WE EVEN VALUE WISDOM?
Perhaps as a society we do not value wisdom as we should. We really value our opinions. In fact it’s easy to get people to share their opinions, and when they do you can quickly detect that they think their opinions are genuinely always right (I’ve been guilty of this on MANY occassions). We value our experiences and our gut instincts. How often have we relied on these when making incredibly important decisions…only later to discover that maybe that wasn’t the best approach after all. We particularly value whatever makes us feel good at the moment, whether it’s “wise” or evidently foolish. But do we value wisdom? Do we even recognize the importance that wisdom plays in keeping our lives moving in the proper direction?

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. In all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honour, when you embrace her. Proverbs 4:7-8

ARE WE AS WISE AS WE THINK?
When I look around me at the things that the human mind has created, I can’t help but think that we are beyond wise. Yesterday as I was listening to some of the features of the new blackberry, I didn’t even understand what half of the features were…let alone comprehend how someone could actually create it. You can’t argue that the products of our hands are not impressive- and yet it is so evident that the lack of wisdom has resulted in tragedy after tragedy, one broken marriage after another, one life run off course after another…one country gone to ruins after another. We can’t boast of our wisdom without quickly being reminded of the gravity of our errors. In fact concerning man’s wisdom, God firmly and rightly declares in his word that “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Who among us can honestly say “On my own I am truly wise.”

THE WISDOM OF GOD – OUR FOUNDATION
While Jesus walked on earth among us he talked about the wise and foolish builders who built their homes upon a foundation – one made of sand and one made of rock:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus’ message is clear. Wisdom is found in God’s word. The wise man is the one who takes these words of his, trusts them, relies on them, and builds his life upon them. And when the storms come (which they most definitely will), this life will withstand all tribulation because it is built on the solid rock of God’s truth – grounded firmly in the very nature and character of God.

AGAINST OUR NATURE
It’s not easy to admit that we are not wise on our own. What we want to say is “I can’t believe how wise I actually am!” But compare our wisdom to that of God’s, and we very much resemble a little child demanding sour milk. But walk with the Lord, read His word, and true wisdom will shine for what it really is. Test His word by applying it to your lives and see how reliable, how sure and how dependable it is. Do you want wisdom? We are told it is found in Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” Colossians 2:3

The wisdom and understanding of man…though it may get you somewhere, will always fall short. I am reminded of a time that a friend of mine was going through a very difficult experience. Her father was lying in the hospital and it was apparent that he had a very short time to live. And it was with regret that she admitted to me that all the self help books she had read, all the words of advice that she was trying to apply were doing nothing to help her cope with those moments. They were no foundation at all when the winds came and beat upon her house.

Next week (and I do plan on writing next week!) I want to look at one final aspect of God’s character that we can rely on to serve as a sure foundation of our lives, and that is His Sovereignty.

Thanks for reading!

Tags: Wisdom