God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Today I want to discus how important it is to get a solid foundation placed in every aspect of our life before we go further to build on the foundation.  There is a divine order to everything.  First we must lay the foundation.

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)

Build Your House on the Rock

 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

In a nutshell, this verse states that when we build our lives on anything other than what the Lord teaches us, our plans will fail – eventually.  If we want a life that runs smoothly, and a life protected by unforseen negative circumstances, we need to consult the Bible on every major and minor decision in life, praying for the Lord’s guidance.

The next step is to follow what the Lord reveals to us, even if we are assaulted, mocked or ridiculed for our decision.  We shouldn’t be surprised if there are people who question what the Lord has imparted to us, because many times the Lord’s ways are not logical to humanity. Many of our naysayers will be well meaning Christians who haven’t made the step to fully follow the Lord. They go to the Bible with their own agenda and their own intellect, hoping to find an answer that fits into their plan.

Going into Bible study with an agenda of how we want our life to work, will never give us revelation of what the Lord would like to impress upon our soul. The best way to approach the bible is to pray a prayer such as: “Lord, I really would like to follow you, please show me the way to go, even if I won’t like it.”  God is faithful to a request like this because it shows humility and it acknowledges God as superior. We all need to remember that humans have a limited perspective on life – God has a birds eye view of the present and the future.

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2 ESV)

Be prepared to feel uncomfortable when you pray like this. Be prepared to have no idea where God is leading you at times.  I equate it to climbing up the high dive ladder at the pool, every rung in the ladder is a step  that I give to the Lord.  Eventually I find myself walking out  to the end of the board – then God says “jump, I’ve got you!”

When you decide to impart your will in an area of your life, you are choosing to go against God. We all have done this. I have done it many times until I finally realized that God means what He says.  This is the journey of faith.  You may get some choices right the first go around, but many times we have to learn through our mistakes.  It can take years before we gain enough trust to follow God on an issue- and that’s okay. Our struggle that leads to trusting the Lord in a deeper way- will allow us to teach others.  Dr. Charles Stanley, one of my favorite Pastor’s, explains the stubborn pride of humanity like this…

A  farmer tells his men, who are about to sow his fields, that such a heap of seed is thoroughly bad, that there is not a germ of life in it, but that the seed in the other [storehouse] is sure to bring forth a good crop. Well, they would not believe him. They sowed the bad seed, and when the summer came there was nothing but weeds. Well, say they, we must till the land better; we must try again. Try again! Would not this be striving against the farmer?*

This story explains that if God wanted us to take a certain path, He would have made it successful the first time.  Notice in that example, that the farmer (God) told them where they would find success, but the sowers of the seed (human beings) decided that He was wrong (lack of humility).  Doing things our own way will always result in problems and backtracking.

We must not let doubt become a lifestyle because “It’s when doubt becomes stubbornness and stubbornness becomes a lifestyle that it harms faith.” (paraphrased from the Life application Bible NIV by Tyndale.) God’s ways are higher than our ways.  Our job is to trust God rather than use our flawed human intellect to make decisions about our lives.

We all need to know the truth of God’s Word in order to build our life on a firm foundation. A foundation that will hold our life together in order to withstand the attacks of the devil. Then…..

” You need not fear sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked.” (Prov 3:25 NLT)

If you’ve realized that you don’t have a solid foundation, start rebuilding now!  Confess that you have lived your life your own way and ask for God’s guidance to get things right. Then open your Bible daily and spend a little extra time in God’s Word.  He will honor your request to put your life on track.

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.” (proverbs 3:5-6)

God’s Promise:

“True humility and fear of the Lord leads to riches, honor and long life.” (Proverbs 22:4 NLT)

Music For Your Soul:

“Unfinished” by Mandissa.

Taken from Dr. Charles Stanley’s online article: Job’s Conversion, Jesus the Justifier. Read here.