Wisdom Cries...Keep sound wisdom and discretion

Proverbs 3:21 "My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion."

Well, there's a word you don't hear everyday, discretion. I guess the truth of the matter is you don't hear much talk of wisdom either. To avoid certain redundancies, I will just remind you of what wisdom is and then move on. The encouragement here is to keep sound wisdom. We have all been imparted with some bit of wisdom, in small or large portions. Sound wisdom is not so much the information gathered from books, but more the understanding of it and how it applies to reality or life. To be perfectly plain about it, a large part of wisdom is the ability to approach a situation and determine the best course of action, and more importantly, the right course of action. So it is not a stretch at all to describe sound wisdom as the ability to know the difference between right and wrong.

According to Roget, a synonym for discretion is responsibility. To complete this thought...know the difference between right and wrong and then be responsible with that information. Boy, if wisdom were a real person, she would be smacking her forehead with her palm these days. I do not know what is more lacking, sound wisdom, actually knowing the difference between right and wrong, or discretion, the responsibility to carry out what is right. First of all, there seems to be a disconnect in the world today from an actual standard of right and wrong. Nowadays, it is totally situational so that sometimes it's alright to lie, steal, or kill the innocent. It just depends on the circumstances, the greater good, maybe. My, how we need men and women to remember what their grandparents lived by. It worked, ya know? It used to be black and white when it came to doing right. After all, they came up with the saying, "It's never right to do wrong, and it's never wrong to do right." As if the drought of sound wisdom were not enough, there is nearly a complete absence of responsibility these days. It's always someone else's fault or someone else's job. Our society is running headlong into a population-wide handing over of responsibility to the government. Everywhere I look, people, young and old, feel like they are owed something. They are entitled to a discount or an extra chance or a free ride.

Boy, wisdom is crying loud here. Please, remember what the difference is between right and wrong. If you never knew it, find out. Ask your grandparents, or better yet, read the Bible. And then take responsibility for yourself. Do good. Do right. Live right. You take over the care and keeping of you and yours. Stop standing around with your hand out, literally or figuratively, for someone to handle the mess you are in or make something of the life you're living. Hey, if it's help you need, by all means, ask for it and if I am nearby, I will do the best I can. But shouldn't you expect the same from yourself, to do the best you can? Let's begin to be a nation of folks that know to do right and then do it.

That's a hard way to develop character

This past Sunday evening, while preaching through the book of Genesis, I got to a point in Joseph's life that, though unusual, we could probably still identify with. He is in jail. Not a situation I can empathize with, but I do have an idea what he may be feeling in a situation that has him bound, suffering, maybe hurting, and to top it all off, a situation that he did did not deserve. While studying this passage, I stumbled upon a verse in Psalms 18:6,  "In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears."

Distress, that summed up where I felt Joseph was in his life, reminded me of some places in my life, and brought a challenge to mind. What do I do in distress? How do I react? Remember, distress isn't just a sickness, trouble, or temptation. We could be talking about sorrow or anxiety. How do you handle it?

Well before I sum up how Joseph handled it as an example for us all, I want to share with you a story. Many years ago my wife and I needed bedroom furniture. The California king waterbed we had finished its course. It was already filled with a cheap regular mattress after the Christmas Eve elbow through the waterbed mattress fiasco, and it was not comfortable nor practical in our home. We shopped for a set and found one in each of the three major brand names, and they all looked the same. As we shopped I noticed that all of the floor models had a common damage to them and after a while I finally asked why the wood looked so rough with all of the marks. Of course, these marks were all about the same and evenly spaced apart but I was clueless on furniture. I was actually embarrassed to find out that the marks belonged there. They were mechanically put there on purpose. It was called "distressing" and here was the good part. The salesman said, "It adds character." WOW! Distressing adds character. I bet you don't think of it that way in the middle of it, but that is how God views difficulty in our life. The hard time are on purpose with a purpose.

Now, what can we learn from Joseph? Real quick...First, keep your priorities straight. Remember, God first, others second, and self last. That's what Joseph did in Genesis 40. Next, practice your patience. Joseph spent years in his distressing situation and we never read of complaints when he got there by an injustice, gripes when he was forgotten by those he helped, or whining when it seemed that his dreams were never going to be realized. Lastly, we find out in chapter 41, verse 38 that the Spirit of God was in Joseph. When in these difficult times, we ought to continue to pursue God. Don't let up. Don't quit. Continue following hard after God.

Hey, in case you didn't know, distress is coming and/or it's already here. How will you handle it? If you do it like Joseph, it will develop character. Oh, by the way, I failed to mention that there was an ultimate promotion in Joseph's life because of his character, and all of his dreams came true. That's an outcome worth waiting for, at least from my Perspective.

Winning the game 3-1...

First of all, I want to take a second to welcome and thank the first two followers of Perspectives, aside from my wife and me. I am humbled that folks would be interested that much. That being said, I would love to see more. Followers fill a couple roles for me; cheerleaders encouraging me to come back and write again and accountability partners challenging me to fulfill my role as blogger.

I enjoy waking up each day to a random scripture reference on my phone, thanks to the Daily Bible app. This morning's verse, which you know already if you follow me on Twitter @fbcpastorrick or Facebook, RickandJenWilson, is Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." As I considered this verse during my morning three mile hike, my mind settled on the word teach. Here's a challenging self-examination. Are you teachable? I mean really teachable. I can promise you that successful people in every field or walk of life had to be and probably still are teachable. We can't know it all and so there is always someone who can help us by teaching. Of course, for the child of God that teacher is God, the Holy Spirit.

Although being teachable is a good quality in and of itself, I thought about about what it takes to be teachable or what it says about you as a teachable person, especially as it relates to relationship to the Lord.

1. To be teachable, you must trust the Teacher. Do believe God is who He says He is? Do you believe His word, the Holy Bible, is true from beginning to end? The description of God given to us in Psalm 139, reveals that He is omniscient (all-knowing in verses 1-6), omnipresent (everywhere present in verses 7-12), omnipotent (all powerful in verses 13-18), and fully righteous and just (verses 19-24). Do you believe that? Can you trust God with your problems? Can you trust Him with your life?
2. To be teachable, you must submit to the Teacher. This is tough. We already know it all, right? If not, we can easily Google it. Isaiah 55:9 reminds us "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." See, first you have to trust Him or you won't even believe this. If you joined a martial arts class, you would have no qualms referring to the teacher of that class as "sensei", or master. To be lead by God and truly succeed in this life and then eternity, we must recognize God as master. If you can't elevate Him to that place in your life then you really are not teachable.
3. To be teachable, you must humble yourself. Ouch. That's it. You've heard enough, right? We were doing okay until then. Unfortunately, in our culture of self-esteem, we are not very familiar with humility. Child of God, you are called to humility, but not without its blessing. James 4:10 assures us "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." Without humility we are a dried-up lump of play-doh left out overnight on the dining room table. We are unable to be formed or changed. On the other hand, a life of humility enables us to be that lump of clay in the Master Potter's hands. Remember it this way, "To be full of pride is to be fully dried." That's no good. Dried clay is a finished product. Do you really think that you are finished? Are you totally satisfied with who/what you are right now? I hope not, because if you check the score, you're losing. What score? Keep reading.

There is another side to that coin, unteachable. Simple enough. You are either teachable or unteachable. What does this "quality" say about you as a person?

1. To be unteachable, you only need one word...self. You must believe yourself to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-supporting, and completely self-absorbed. You are more concerned with self-esteem, self-image, self-worth, and anything else that promotes yourself above others. 

Don't go wacky on me here and think that these are not worthwhile attributes. Some of these certainly have their justifiable place in our character, but I think to sum it all up in good context I will quote a saying I first read at The Wilds. "Just two choices on the shelf, serving God or serving self." That's the wrap-up and the game. The winners take it 3-1. I want to be a winner. I desire to be teachable in the context of this scripture and there is no better Perspective than the one from the winning side.