I was reading something in Proverbs a couple of weeks ago that grabbed my attention. I was reading its instruction about wisdom in the first few chapters, and one particular verse intrigued me: the Lord "stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity," - Proverbs 2:7. The verses surrounding this one are filled with encouragements to gain wisdom so that basically you can know how to live uprightly. But this seemed to be saying God has in store a special portion of wisdom for those who are already living uprightly. See the circle? Get wisdom so you can be upright. Then...be upright, so you can get wisdom.
Hmm...
Wisdom is such an interesting thing. Kind of mysterious. We have to go searching for it in order to find it. We know it because God tells us it's out there waiting for all who really are hungry for it (all throughout these chapters), but all the while we're searching we don't really know what it is we're going to find exactly. But the more we listen to its voice, the more we'll hear it. (That will take training, for sure!) How great that it's an ongoing process like that though. I realize that I've misunderstood before what wisdom really looks like. Too often I start pursuing it when I find myself in a particularly confusing or difficult circumstance. I look for it as a support for a specific need when really, these Scriptures are saying, it's meant to be something we grow into. Through a process. And it should be an ongoing process. Something I'm adding to my character every day. Wisdom is not just about a one-time or periodic need based on me needing to know something I can't know on my own; rather, it's a lifestyle. Or at least it should be. This convicts me because I can't really say that wisdom is building upon itself in my heart on a regular basis. On the contrary, I tend to ignore it and fail to search for it unless I'm super hard pressed about something. And if Proverbs tells me anything, it's that God is offering me an open invitation to His beautiful wisdom. Every day. But the choice is mine to pursue it and accept it.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wise-Girl Wannabe
Posted by Hannah E. at 9:18 PM
Labels: Heart Work
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4 comments:
Wow. Such wonderful words. THANK YOU! It is so wonderful to know I am not alone in some of my struggles!
Another great post from Hannah. I love reading your blog because it causes me to think more about spiritual things.
I think we all search for wisdom when we are in need of something and I do not think that is a bad thing. But I also think many times when we are seeking, it isn't always about a specific physical, relational, or material need. Many times for me I just have "the need" to find an answer to a lingering question or doubt in my mind.
I am continuously challenged in how I believe and why I believe and THIS is what drives me to seek wisdom. Many times it is not others challenging me- - it is myself. I think about "how I believe" quite a bit and I always want to be prepared to give an answer(1 Peter 3:15) to why I believe the way I do and the only way I can do that is to seek wisdom through God's word.
I can tell from reading your posts over the past year that you are definitely one who seeks wisdom on an ongoing basis. I think it comes so naturally to you that you do not even realize it when you are doing it. So don't be so hard on yourself and just keep seeking as you have!
God promises if we seek Him, we will find Him. (so the next question is, What does it mean to "seek" Him? I mean REALLY seek Him!)
Marci - I think you're so right. Wisdom can be tricky...I've seen that in MY life, ANYTHING good can be twisted through pride to be something that doesn't align with God's heart. I can seek wisdom with wrong motives or a prideful attitude and maybe find an answer, yet it doesn't really create in me the beauty of heart that God desires to work in me. I hadn't really thought about that until you shared your thoughts.
Seeking God has been another theme for me lately. =) I'm working through what that looks like. All I know for sure about it at this point is what Hebrews 11:6 says, and what characterizes a seeker is that they BELIEVE that what they're seeking can be found. This seems so simple and obvious. But it's huge for me because I don't always seek Him confidently. I don't know why this is, but I think it's just always been a part of how I have thought about God...I'm not used to thinking that He really WANTS to be found and is not going to make it hard for me. That kind of thinking has been hard to break during the last few years. So...this verse reminds me that seeking Him and strong faith always go together, and it challenges me as to what I know about who He is and what rewards He offers. It's been good stuff to ponder. Thanks for bringing that up!
I've been really hungering and longing for wisdom lately too!
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