Get Wisdom!

“Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you” ~ Proverbs 4:5-6

This beautiful, talented, smart, creative little girl was her daddy's whole world. At fifteen, she discovered herself being promised the world, told she would be loved forever, her beauty delighted in by an older guy. Everything felt so right, and she gave in. I found out before her dad did that she was pregnant. An eternal precious life created! But I still couldn't help but feel such sadness for how much she was giving up, for the utter loss and failure her father would feel when his baby girl tells the news, for the child whom I hope never finds out his life was not rejoiced in the moment it was discovered. How was this girl supposed to know?  What will she feel toward men the rest of her life? Will this 18 year old boy stand up to be a father . . . and have his heart broken too, by a daughter?

A close guy friend of mine saved himself for so long. He loved God. He believed God. He waited for Him. Then beauty caught not only his eye, but also his heart. The way she looked at him, talked to him, adored him. He never felt so much like a man. He told me he believed they would be married within 6 months. She was the one. He was sure. He worked so hard. He wanted to provide for her. He wanted kids. He said that he had never met a girl so beautiful, so smart, and yet liked him so much. He was entranced, ecstatic. No thing he did for her was too much. He gave everything. And yes, she did “make a man” out of him. And then left. He didn’t know what went wrong. He hasn’t dated since. His heart just can’t quite believe in women anymore. How was he to know?

My sister was hit in an intersection three years ago, her car crushed, and her mind immediately sent into a comma for three days. The accident and after-math was traumatic for her to say the least. But sometimes I think back to the guy who hit her. He was a 22-year-old in the military, going 30 miles over the speed limit, very intoxicated, driving three other people in his car, and ran a red light. He tried to stagger away at the accident. He was sent to the barracks, was dishonorably discharged from the military, sent to collenctions, will have his wages garnished for the rest of his life, and his resume ruined. His life will never be the same because of one night.

The world can often promise something that doesn’t quite deliver what we believed it would.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” ~ Proverbs 4:23.

My heart is an amazing thing. It is the thing I love God with the most. It is the thing that has layers that haven’t quite been brought to light and can deceive others and even myself. It is the thing that desires and hopes and fears and sins and dreams and loves and wants. It is complicated and it is hard to know.

Even today, it was the weirdest thought. Why must I FIGHT against the things I WANT? Why do I WANT to be jealous, and be the best, and be adored and promoted and have my lusts fulfilled? Why do I even want those things? Why does my life have to be a FIGHT? What is going on in my heart?

In James this morning, I read: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived my beloved brethren” ~ James 1:13-16.

This tells me that sin starts with a DESIRE.

And yet not all desire is bad. I DESIRE the Lord. God promises to fulfill the DESIRE of the righteous. God puts DESIRES in my heart for me to know what it is He created me to do!

So, how do I know the difference?

I believe it is WISDOM!

There is a reason the author of Proverbs tells us to give up everything we have, sell gold and silver, pursue with all of our might, WISDOM.

Wisdom gives us insight into our hearts. It helps us to discern what is right, what is of the Spirit.

Earthly Wisdom

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” ~James 3:13-16.

Godly Wisdom

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” ~ James 3:17.

Only a man or woman (and the Spirit of God) knows their own heart. I can never know someone else’s motives, thoughts, true feelings. I believe what they say, if they seem consistent, if they show by ACTIONS. But I cannot know their heart.

But we can know our own heart. We can ask for wisdom into our heart. In fact, I believe that God WANTS us to KNOW it. He wants us to search our hearts. HE wants to search it and show us our desires and fears and anxieties and motives. He wants to bring it to light. He wants us to process and think and pray about them. To identify TRUTH and LIES.

He wants it because HE LOVES US.

I just sat through a sermon by Josh McDowell on Love. He defined Love as to Protect and Provide. God’s greatest desire, he said, is to protect and provide for us. He is often protecting us against the things that are lying to us. The uncomfortable things He shows us, the sin, the dirt, the lies we believe are hard to see, but so necessary because the TRUTH sets us free. And it’s reality.

The little girl believes the 18-year-old could give her everything because she hopes it’s true. The guy friend believes that this doting girl will fulfill his life. The battered woman goes back to the wife-beater believing that he’s sorry. The teenage girl goes back to the friends that use her and gossip behind her back. The forty year old man believes his young, exotic mail-order bride loves him for who he is. Parents believe their teen who swears she did not sneak in late at night (although they heard it) because they are desperately afraid their daughter will leave altogether and that they don’t know how to parent. A man believes his broke friend will eventually pay him back and stop using him for his money.

For whatever reason, we believe the things we want to—although reality tells us otherwise. Wisdom tells us otherwise. We feel needed, we feel loved, we feel valued.

But perhaps a deeper look into our heart will reveal that we are believing lies. Lies we’ve created because the truth about ourselves, and reality, hurts too much.

But in wisdom, the truth does set us FREE. In wisdom, there is true HOPE. I hope in REALITY. And my hope will not fail me.

Certainly, there is grace for all the times I’ve been foolish. Nothing is lost when found by God. My sin cannot out-do his forgiveness. There is a new start for every mistake. For every lost opportunity. For every loss. There is letting go of the past, and abundant mercy!!!

But let me pursue WISDOM. Let me give up foolish things and desire to know my heart. Let me ask God to search it, though it be uncomfortable.

Know my heart God. Search it. And let me pursue wisdom!