Month: March 2019

Read Proverbs Chapter 2.

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6 CSB

It’s interesting when I looked up the word “mouth” in Hebrew.  It comes from the word “peh” meaning to puff, i.e. blow away. The image that comes to mind is someone blowing out the candles on a birthday cake.  It’s seems an odd meaning for mouth in this phrase.

Or is it?

God so readily wants to impart wisdom to us, it is like a kid blowing out candles on his birthday cake.  He can’t wait to blow them out. His cheeks are all puffed up with air, there’s a hushed excitement all around.  Finally someone yells, “Just do it!”. Then “Gush!” He lets it all go. God so desperately wants to share with us, but are we willing to listening?  Are we noticing what He is trying to say to us?

I have to be honest.  I’m not a good listener.  God pretty much has to hit me over the head with a brick for me to get it.  Just yesterday, as I was thinking back over my life, I realized how much God had been trying to guide and direct me.  I also realized how good I was at not listening. Knowing exactly what I should do, and doing the opposite. Knowing exactly what God wanted me to do, and doing the opposite.  I’m a little bit better now then I was then, but I still have a long way to go.

God is waiting to give His wisdom to all of us.  We just have to listen to what He’s saying. We have to listen to what He’s saying through His word.  Through the circumstances we find ourselves in. Through the people we surround ourselves with. Through prayer and supplication.  We have to listen. If something keeps coming up, over and over again, it might just be God. You may want to stop and listen. It usually takes about three times before I start to get the message.  

Here’s an example.  Week after week I sit in WW.  I listen to my leader talk about tracking, for years, literally.  But I don’t track everything I eat. Friends have joined me at WW.  They track, and are losing. I don’t track, I’m not losing. Finally, just two weeks ago, the leader shared a story of woman who had -286 points but had tracked everything.  He or She was that honest with themselves. Finally, I got the message and started to track. It’s amazing, I’ve started to lose weight again.

How does that relate to God and wisdom.  I’ve been praying and praying to lose weight.  God has been trying to tell me exactly what I need to do.  I just haven’t been listening. I definitely haven’t been obeying. We need to listen to receive God’s wisdom.

Read Proverbs Chapter 1

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7 CSB

The Hebrew word fear in this context, literally means reverential awe.  In other words: The reverential awe of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  

Fear is often misunderstood in this verse. It is respect for the Lord.  It is an understanding that He is all powerful, can do all things. He doesn’t want us to fear having a relationship with Him.  He just wants us to respect what each of our roles are in it. He is God. We are not. Simple.

Unfortunately, one of the things that impacts our feelings towards God is the relationship we had/have with our earthly father.  Because we think of God as father, and we have only one earthly father, it is easy to see why we tend to do that.

For me, I had a great Dad.  He was God fearing, took us to church every week, raised us in the Lord.  One of my favorite memories is my Dad smoking a cigarette before church in his gray suit.  The only day of the week my Dad ever wore a suit was on Sunday. Dad was a strict Dad by a lot of standards, but I always knew I was his little princess.  He spoiled me rotten. I always knew my Dad loved me.

It’s easy for me to envision a loving God.  It’s easy for me to respect God, because I know the respect I had for my father.  Others have not shared the same blessing with me. Their fathers were distant, completely absent.  Their relationships with men in general have not been good experiences. Asking them to trust in a loving Father figure is harder. Asking them to have reverential awe for Him after their experiences with their earthly father seems impossible.  Why would anyone have reverential awe for God when there is so much pain in the world? Because there is also a lot of good in the world. Because when you begin to have reverential awe for God, you will begin to see the good. When you start to see the good, you will start to see how God, as you believe and trust in Him, works all things to the good (Romans 8:28 NIV).

This is where wisdom starts, with reverential awe.