In the book of Proverbs there are many one liners of wisdom for life, wrapped up in the words, they speak to relationship, family, to business practices and environments, their wisdom will help you become a better leader, manager, husband, wife, child, person. They just deal with people and life to the full. I have often encouraged young men and women to form a habit around the reading of at least one proverb a day, letting the proverbs groom life and enable a better person to emerge. They are not only helpful to the individual but they will produce a better society if we could embrace them.
I must admit there are some strange ones as well, such as what do you do with “if you dig a pit you will surely fall into it” or “if a man stand on a log he will surly fall off” clearly they did not have health and safety. In Proverbs 30:24 forward we have presented to us “small things” unimportant things yet they are presented as small insignificant things which are very significant for us, they are “exceedingly wise”. Small is worth listening to and taking note of some times, I would suggest to you, always.
How many times have we missed the Father as it was not exceedingly big enough for us, significant for us, of notoriety, or even X Factor enough to take note of, yet there was wisdom for the day there.
MY prayer is that we all see significance according to the lesson, the insight of wisdom delivered, not its position, impact, or even any value system we may employ. How many times has God been there dressed in such a non attractive manner, I wonder how many missed Jesus as he was not as they expected. Proverbs also encourages us that “wisdom cries in the street”, Ok lets train our eyes and ears to see and hear the “small things” for exceeding wisdom.
Why start with small things well here are three small wisdom’s for life I have noted in my life and others that we would do well to take on board and employ the wisdom.
1. Experience Life thought the lens of faith – it’s all down to how you view life, your view will enable or trip you up it’s so important how you look on life. People around you and situations will shout “no you cannot”, “you should not” and will make reasons why not, however you and I must face the storm and look through another view. What has God promised you, what has he said, what will you do in the light of that.
This is not about a fanciful, wistful saying, but what has become part of your fabric, that which God has said. One thing is certain, if God has said it, it will be beyond your ability, means and emotion at present, BUT God, we do or don’t believe. What keeps you together in the situations of life that you can align your whole being with?
There is no better way than to see and take life and all it has while looking through afresh lens. I am not suggesting we become presumptuous or individualistic and alone, but I am encouraging us to Know what God has said and look at life through those very words. To see with your hearing perhaps, as the lens is established by what you have heard, it is when sight is determined by hearing!
So what lens do you govern yourself by, what experience will you have tomorrow.
I wear glasses to enable 20 20 vision, without them well let us say there would be many bruises as I would walk into things, I experience life through the putting on of two circular glass plates, without them I would have a distorted view of life. The view would be so out of focus that I think I would end up in a darkened room, it is tiring trying to have to squint and stretch to get focus but with glasses, o boy can I see far and short. Experience life though the lens of Faith, its clear, challenging, humbling but adventure beyond.
Through this lens of faith, we have testimony down through time, of people’s views being transformed, this lens enabling forward advance. One such transformation came to William Wilberforce after a sudden conversion experience, William began to see his work (and world) in a whole new light.
“The gospel freely admitted makes a man happy. It gives him peace with God, and makes him happy in God. It gives to industry a noble, contented look which selfish drudgery never wore; and from the moment that a man begins to do his work for his Saviour’s sake, he feels that the most ordinary employments are full of sweetness and dignity, and that the most difficult are not impossible. And if any of you, my friends, is weary with his work, if dissatisfaction with yourself or sorrow of any kind disheartens you, if at any time you feel the dull paralysis of conscious sin, or the depressing influence of vexing thoughts, look to Jesus, and be happy. Be happy, and your joyful work will prosper well.”
2. Bloom where you are planted – so many of us are robbed of fulfilling all God has for us, as we have adopted a saying that keeps us from where we are, “grass is greener on the other side” so we make every where seem better that where we are. It produces an unhealthy dissatisfaction and dislike of the gift God has given us.
I have a desire to enable people to live to the full where they are, the missing factor is, we have lost the understanding that God has planted us where we are! Not as a discipline or judgment against you but with the purpose of transformation. If we cannot grasp this, Gods’ planting for us, we will never bloom. We say that identity is important, which it is, but I would say to you believing and realising that where I am is the planting of the Lord is equally vital. In Genesis God not only planted a garden but he planted Adam into the garden, a place prepared and planted mankind. I would say we have to know Gods’ hand placing us so we can bloom.
Your decision to be planted will make you and the people around you flourish, that is as you become planted and convinced of your setting, which is often our battle being convinced, for being convinced having a conviction is a necessary strength for life. As you are convinced of being planted or where you are now being the will of God watch your planting attract people and opportunity to you. So many wish their lives away wishing they where somewhere else or in anther person place. It is fashionable to belong to networks for advance and they are effective to a degree, but the knowledge of being planted and living accordingly will cause you to bloom!
3. Have the stamina to pursue your God-given passions until the end. – the challenge of finishing well, of getting through all the distractions, the disappointments and letting the passion that God has worked into you to have its end. Living life with no regrets, there may be sadness but nothing that steals stamina. The developing of stamina of staying in when it is all up hill and getting harder and harder. As I tell you, you will have moments when you feel that you are crushed Paul said he was perplexed, crushed on every side but he kept going and so do we too.
Stamina is so necessary in every day to be able to keep your emotion, your attitude your physical ability up, to achieve what God has revealed to your lens and through your planting to bloom.
There is no time here to consider the ways of building stamina of ensuring that the company you keep, the way you talk, the way you see, all effect stamina. To consider how to build your stamina for the journey is another worthwhile topic for another blog, the how to build, the necessity of stamina, the cultivating of the means to strength for the road ahead.
Face2Face - Gareth Duffty Blog 