Wisdom and Understanding

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.

Proverbs 3:13-14 

Hello Girlfriends!

My thoughts are fixed upon graduation as my youngest daughter wraps up her high school career today by taking her last final exam. I think about all the facts memorized, the grammar and spelling checked, and the mathematical equations solved. With twelve years of knowledge in her brain, my darling will embark upon life in the real world. She has high aspirations for a career in graphic design, one that will hopefully pay the student loans and provide enough leftovers for a roof, clothing, and food.

In the midst of preparations, this mother's mind focuses upon today's key verse. My hope for my daughter is that she has obtained more than just plain knowledge in these past twelve years. I pray that she sought the Spirit of the Lord for wisdom and also understanding, for as Proverbs 3 states, they are more profitable than silver, yield better returns than gold (even with today's market value for that precious metal.)

Head knowledge is terrific and especially useful for operating heavy machinery or designing detailed brochures. But heart knowledge is better. Many people know who Jesus is, believe He existed, and agree He was crucified for our sins. What is lacking is the wisdom and understanding of why God entered humanity, died, and resurrected on our behalf. Facts flourish but a relationship with Christ flounders. Unfortunately, without that rapport and without wisdom, knowledge alone can only lead to worldly success with disastrous eternal consequences.

Jesus alone saves us from ourselves, from Satan, from sin--knowing this point however is not enough. Understanding why, and wisely choosing to accept His sacrifice, are the true keys to future profit and prosperity.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. Matthew 7:24-25

I pray for my child, and all of my loved ones, that God will give them insight, discernment, and wisdom when applying knowledge to life on this earth. Building a house is the easy part; choosing the foundation is the difficult and demanding decision. Society beckons us to settle for appearances, popularity, and its definition of success. God desires so much more for His children. His foundation is solid and steady in the storms as well as the sunny days, but requires sacrifice and slow, steady progress during the building phases. In today's age of instantaneous everything, will our children patiently wait upon stable construction or will they settle for flimsy and fast fabrication? What about us? What example have we provided our youth? Girlfriends, the time is never past for demolition of the old house and construction of the new with Jesus Christ as our cornerstone and concrete base. 


If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5

Ladies, today let us join in prayer for our graduates, for our younger and older children, for our friends and family, and for ourselves. May God grant wisdom to all who ask so that the knowledge in our brains connects with the love in our hearts, the passion in our bones, and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. May wisdom and understanding guide every free choice allowing each one of us to be a blessing to others and bring honor to our heavenly Father. 

Have a wonderful day!! 

PS Please pray for my daughter as she gives her speech tomorrow at graduation....another example of how God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. My non-public speaker child has been asked to present the senior class gift to a gym full of students and family members. Her comfort zone is designing the gift and the card to accompany it, NOT making a public presentation. God bless her for stepping out and accepting the challenge. 
 

I Do Not Know

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Isaiah 55:8-9

Someone At The Door

Aloha, Girlfriends! No, I am not in Hawaii, just dreaming! 

Earlier this week, I did take a short trip and spent the night at my mom's house. As I was sitting in her office typing my blog to you, the doorbell rang. Mom was in the shower, so I answered the door. Two women carrying Bible bags stood smiling at me and began praising Mom's landscaping. From that praise, they prompted me with a question about the anger hanging in the air lately around our cities and whether I knew the cause. I answered them with God's word, stating that He does tell us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12). After a slight pause, one lady asked if she could share with me an article addressing this issue, and she handed me the Watchtower magazine. 

Now, I had no interest in the Watchtower or the message of the Jehovah's Witnesses. I warmly accepted her hand-out but informed her that I am a Christian. They nodded, asked about my church, and then the other woman said something that later came back to play over and over in my mind. 

"What I love about the Jehovah's Witnesses is that my mother grew up under Hitler in Nazi Germany. When she came to the US with so many questions, their Bible answered every single question for her. Then she passed it on to me." 

Hmmmm, really? EVERYTHING? She read the Jehovah's Witnesses bible and suddenly knew everything and had no more questions? (By the way, their bible is called the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. The men who "translated" it had little or no knowledge of either Greek or Hebrew.) Sorry, not buying that line. But we will come back to that in a minute.

To make the story short, I seized the opportunity of having two women at my mom's door to witness to them. I asked the first woman if she had a pen, which she did, and a piece of paper, which she opened up in a notebook. I took the pen and notebook from her and wrote "www.girlfriendmoments.blogspot.com" and told her that, since she shared with me, I would like to also share with her. I let her know that I write a Christian blog for women. I also mentioned that I agreed with her that God should be the source of our knowledge, not Google, not your neighbor, not necessarily even your pastor. 

For we are told in Jeremiah 29:12-14, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity." 

I highly doubt they will ever read my blog, but I am grateful God gave me the opportunity to cross paths with them that day. For one, perhaps God planted a seed of change that will bring them to the Truth. But more importantly, because the second woman's comments spoke to my heart about an issue that was already dwelling there. 

Seek and Find Me

The blog I was writing that day the doorbell rang was called The Story. (You can read it in the archives on the leftside of my page if you missed it.) The Story is God's Story, the Bible (correctly translated Hebrew/Greek to English), rearranged in chronological order. If you remember, I told you that Emily, Jordan, and I are reading this Bible out loud together. What I did not tell you is how arduously slow this reading is going! I am sure this is no surprise for those of you who know my son very well. "Deep thinker" does not even begin to describe Jordan! 

Remember that three year old phase when you were convinced that the only word your child knew was "Why"? Yeah, well, I don't think my son ever outgrew that stage. Therein lies the blessing and the curse! Inquisitive, reflective, and analytical, Jordan rarely accepts anything for its surface value. (Wonder where he got that gene?) Hence, reading aloud to him has always been a long process requiring a enormous block of time. Now, we all know that I am a mom with nothing else to do all day, so naturally I am delighted by my little investigator. (Yes, that is sarcasm.)

Seriously, though, reading the Bible challenges me to introspection. Reading the Bible with Jordan stretches me further, traversing topics that demand observation, reflection, explanation, and interpretation. When I presume to know the answer to his question, I explain to him, only to find myself on a walk later wondering if I actually gave the correct information. I find myself returning to the Bible, seeking and pursuing the truth in a way I can share with my children. Funny thing about seeking, I always find something. Many times, one question leads me to another and the pursuit of answer reveals an entirely new yet related certainty; hence, as God tells us you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.(Jer 29 above)

I Do Not Know 

But what about the times when I seek and I cannot find the answer? When I knock and the door is not opened? Is it acceptable for me to tell my children, "I do not know?" Does not having every answer crumble my faith and demote God to a lesser being, or negate His existence at all? Is that not the argument atheists and other non-believers, by the power of Satan, want to use against us? And what about supposed believers, like the Jehovah's Witnesses who visited me? She told me that her religion and her Bible have all the answers. I have a problem with both kinds of thinking.

As stated in today's key verse, God tells us (His) thoughts are not (our) thoughts, neither are (our) ways (His) ways. Actually, His ways higher than (our) ways and (His) thoughts than (our) thoughts. Seeking and finding Him does not mean we become like God, that we know all His answers. Instead, we find our way into His abiding love that reveals knowledge and wisdom according to His measure.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17

I am quite frankly comfortable with that thought. After all, was that not Eve and Adam's problem in the Garden, wanting to be like God, to have all that knowledge from the tree? Look what a disaster that turned out to be for all of humanity! I want God to be God, and humans to be humans. I do not desire to know all that He knows for many reasons, but really for one major point. 

I have found that when I think I know everything there is to know about a subject, or even a major portion of it, I stop pursuing. I am no longer consumed with the desire to learn more or to spend time on the topic. I move on to something else interesting. Let me ask, have you ever had that experience? Perhaps the subject was academic in nature, but what about people? Yes, people, created in God's image. How many spouses stop pursuing one another once they have been together a long time, once they have achieved great familiarity, once they "know everything" about each other? Can you imagine if that were the case with our Lord and Savior?

I do not know everything about God, and I cannot completely answer many of my own or my son's questions about His revealed Word. Yet, these deficiencies do not impede my faith, instead they embolden it. I love the Lord. I believe in Him and who He says He is. I am encouraged by the fruit generated by His Presence in my family. I have witnessed His faithfulness and constantly observe the results of His promises. Consequently, I hunger and thirst for Him like a craving that is never satisfied. I want to know Him more and more. I yearn to spend time with God, in conversation and relationship, listening as He reveals to me little by little the Truth that increases my freedom and my faith incrementally. The more He unveils, the greater my desire to turn to His Word daily, for courage, insight, and direction. 

So, I continue to read aloud with my kids from the Bible. They continue to ask questions. I pray and then I answer. Often we stand in the kitchen until midnight, going back and forth in deliberation. Sometimes my answer is a plain, "I do not know," but you can bet my faith says, "But God knows, and I trust Him." I hope my kids do too! 

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. Proverbs 3:5-7

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Proverbs 3:1-2