My Greatest Need, Our Greatest Need

I heard the story of a man walking up a hill when he encountered a dense fog.  He didn't know where he was and then he stumbled upon a rock, so he stood on it hoping to get a better look.  As he pulled out his GPS he thought - "Ok, there's North...that's the way to go"; only to find that North changed immediately.  Wondering how it could happen he stepped off of the rock, only to hear the rock say "Baaaaaaaah".  It was a sheep!

Sometimes the world seems to be shifting, changing at such a rapid rate that it is hard to get our bearings.  I confess, the problems we deal with today are unprecedented, and seem to be shifting by the week.  I thought I had problems as a Pastor 30 years ago helping people navigate questions of life; but as I look back most of those issues seem fairly benign these days.

What is needed, of course, in the process of living out Christ in our world these days is Wisdom.  Take a journey with me through some scripture and think about the greatness of that profound word - wisdom.

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)
⁷  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Proverbs 2:6 (ESV)
⁶  For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 

Proverbs 3:13 (ESV)
¹³  Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, 

Proverbs 4:7 (ESV)
⁷  The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. 

So there you have it...
It is essential to avoiding the foolishness of living.
The Lord is the source of it
We can  "find" it
We must "get" it, and with it the insight or understanding of what then.

Prophesying of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 11:1-2 (ESV) 
¹  There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
²  And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And Paul reminds the Corinthian believers that the scripture is the source of wisdom as the Holy Spirit brings clarity to us...

1 Corinthians 2:10-13 (ESV)
¹⁰  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
¹¹  For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
¹²  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
¹³  And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 

All of this comes back to the fact that our world is shifting and the wisdom of the world is taking on unprecedented power to shape and control things so that God is ignored and the "foolishness" of the world's supposed wisdom reigns.  1 Corinthians 2:6 (ESV) 

⁶  Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 

Paul's prayer to the Colossians is where I find my great need:  Colossians 1:9 (ESV) 

⁹  And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom... That's it, we need to simply go back to those days of hell-fire and brimstone, scare people into submission, tell them that they're going to hell for their disregard for God's word...etc.  If it was that easy.  We have a society that has been formed on the belief that the individual is supreme, and that religion is a private affair, and no one has the right to tell anyone else what they should do or not do.  

It makes me want to pull out whatever hair is left on my head - and that's not much!

This privatized, individualistic, leave me alone, I'll do what I want is the world we live in; and in some ways, if not in a lot of ways, we as Christians have endorsed it.  The chickens have come home to roost and now that we are not in a position of power, we hate it.

Where do we go?  What do we do when the power people, the authority, the rulers move on it life without a sense of thinking about God?  Politicians, Wall Street financiers, Educators,  Professionals - like Medical, Legal, Social - All of these are largely void of thinking about "What does God say about this?"

I don't have answers - I have a need...a need for Wisdom, and I believe that this can only come from God.  I find the great need to "think" and then "think again".  The confusion of the world has no quick solutions, but it has lots of repercussions.  We live in an "un-thinking" world where personal pleasures, personal preferences, and personal attitudes shape almost all choices.  

I want to walk with Jesus again...to listen, to talk, to seek understanding...It's the only source of real wisdom.

Peace