Let’s be honest. Adulting is hard. Choosing a college; choosing not to go to college; getting married; buying a new house; having kids; raising those kids; sending those kids to school; find a career; changing that career; etc., etc., etc. The list could go on for days. How do we locate the wisdom to make those decisions? Where does our source of guidance, encouragement and support come from? Friends? Family members? Pastors? Most certainly they all have influence in our lives, but should their advice be the solid foundation that we build our lives upon?
Last weekend my husband and I embarked upon an adventure we will surely remember for years to come. It was an enormous step for my husband and he was excited about the prospect. His well-worn kayak had only been used a few times in the past four years since he had fallen ill and became temporarily paralyzed. Nervous about the length of the float and any unforeseen circumstances that we might encounter, I tried to curb those fears with excitement about a peaceful day on the water surrounded by beautiful scenery.
The float began uneventful but soon the obstacles appeared. Twists and bends in the river and fallen trees from recent flooding blocking the main river channel, forcing us to navigate around them in sometimes rapidly flowing water. Several miles down river we encountered the biggest obstacle of the day.
The island. With no easy way to float our kayaks around this large expanse of hills and valley of pea gravel and river rock, we were stuck with only one decision to make. How to move our kayaks to the other side of the island that connected back to the main river channel. It wasn’t an easy task. Three gravel bars with pockets of fast-flowing water between each presented the greatest challenge.
We needed wisdom.
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding — indeed if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
— Proverbs 2:1-5
Thankfully, we found a way to navigate around these obstacles and were back on the river only a short time later. However, not all obstacles in our lives are that easy to overcome. For these hurdles we need expert guidance and divine wisdom, such that only comes from the heavenly realms. This wisdom, the only true source that can take us from where we are to where we need to be, comes from the Lord.
But it isn’t something that we can ask Santa for at Christmas or order with 2 day shipping from Amazon.
It takes time. It takes dedication. It takes personal sacrifice.
We must cry out after wisdom in the same manner that the hungry cry out for food. We must lift our voices for understanding to the heavens. We must bind the Word of God in our hearts, guarding it like we were afraid of thieves robbing us of it.
We must become Wonder Woman for our hearts and mind, protecting the Word of God at all costs, no matter what. For from the Word of God flows wisdom, and from wisdom flows life everlasting. A life lived in the footsteps of Jesus and in the shadow of the Almighty.
And that, my friends, is the best decision we can ever make.
Beyond Room 908 