I need Wisdom

 

I need wisdom. I need knowledge also.  But I have a reasonable measure of knowledge and I know how to learn. Acquiring knowledge can be difficult but it can be gained by our personal grit and study and with the help of others who know how to point us in the right direction. But gaining wisdom is more difficult. Wisdom is gained through a lifetime of failures and successes and the painful experiences along the way. Even then wisdom will not be fully gained unless we have a desire to learn from our experiences. Wisdom is ultimately acquired when we seek God’s advice and allow His mind to interact with our minds as we journey through life. Proverbs 9:10 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. In James 1:5 we read “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him”.

If we are honest, we will all agree that we lack wisdom and thus all of us are in need of wisdom. We understand however that wisdom comes from God and that God is delighted to dispense wisdom to us. Wisdom is available to us when we pray and ask God for insight and understanding and application. We need knowledge but wisdom is far greater because wisdom enables us to practically and properly use the knowledge that we have. Wisdom makes knowledge productive. God desires to be generous in dispensing wisdom to us. God is not harsh but gives generously to all without reproach. This means that God is not looking for flaws within us that would disqualify us from receiving wisdom. God is not looking at our faults to find reasons to not grant us wisdom. If He did none of us would be worthy of God’s gift of wisdom. God desires to lavish us with all the wisdom we need. But we do need to ask God for wisdom and we need to ask God for wisdom believing that God will indeed give us wisdom.

Receiving wisdom from God requires faith. James wrote “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8). Getting wisdom from God requires a focus that is grounded by faith in God. This does not mean that we do not struggle in our faith. God is not asking us to have blind faith. Faith in God is not ignorant of the realities of the world. God is not saying that we must have a faith that does not struggle with doubt. Indeed, that level of faith does not exist in frail humanity. We all struggle in our faith. Faith and doubt are often, maybe usually, mingled together. But faith needs to be dominate in our lives. The world around us is a doubting world tossed about by the wind and the movement of the earth. People who succumb to this kind of doubt are filled with so much duplicity that they are unable to find stability. In that predicament they will never discover God’s gift of wisdom. To have faith means that when the waves of doubt come, we stand firm holding onto to whatever amount of faith we have. It might not be much faith. It may be faith no bigger than a grain of mustard seed. It may be a weak faith that finds us crying out “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”. But yet it is a faith that is certain of God’s love for us and is committed to fulfill our life’s purpose of serving God. It is a faith to which God will reward an abundance of wisdom.

Christmas in COVID Times

 

Midst efforts to resolve a viral pandemic

Causing global illness and death epidemic

As we process the merits of our heartfelt fears

Mixed with worry, doubt, dread, anger, and sometimes tears

Let’s not forget about the virgin who conceived

A child sent from God, so our sins could be relieved.

 

As we shelter in our places of seclusion

Where once welcomed visits are now an intrusion

As we inhale and exhale covered by our mask

While simple routines are now a cumbersome task

Let’s recall that to the virgin a child was born

Who would bring hope, joy, and peace to a world forlorn

 

When six feet apart striving for social distance

Has become the new normal of our existence

When our multiple efforts of sanitation

Instigates within us constant aggravation

Visit the manger, see Joseph and his betrothed

Gaze upon the child who in swaddling rags was clothed

 

When the news of more COVID cases scours the land

When the ones who govern hand down a new demand

When after each encounter we wash our hands clean

As we hope and pray each day for a new vaccine

Listen to the voices of the angelic throng

Announcing the Messiah’s presence in their song

 

As new stipulations create family strain

And events occur causing economic pain

When we come in close contact with those infected

Then obey rules of quarantine as directed

Let’s treasure the glorious news of a savior

Who came to remedy our sinful behavior

 

When we grieve a cherished friend or loved one who dies

And we can’t properly gather to say goodbyes

When we want to weep and give each other a hug

But we are restricted to a stare and a shrug

Let’s join the angels in praising the Prince of Peace

For in His grace and mercy we will find release

 

When each retail store bears the sign “masks are required”

And every adventure makes us tense and tired

When we learn that someone had a positive test

And we retreat to our homes for much needed rest

Let’s treasure Jesus, ponder His truth in our heart

With fresh faith in Him tomorrow a new day start

 

Midst our expressed concerns about the world’s future

Worrying that the wounds are too deep to suture

When mental anguish and fear are out of control

When encouraging words lack power to console

Recall that our purpose is to give Christ glory

And our mission is to propagate His story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID Weary

I am COVID weary! I guess we all are. The region in which I live has not yet been touched heavily by the virus. In some ways hiding out and laying low and limiting what I do is more of an inconvenience that begs for an answer. Nevertheless, I am COVID weary. I am weary of the fears and the news and statistics and the disruptions and the politics and the economics and the complaints and arguments. I am weary of hearing about sickness and death and dying. I am weary of the warnings of danger and seeing people in face masks and being told it is not safe to do simple ordinary things. This is not an argument of whether those things are reasonable acts of mitigation or not. I will assume that many of the precautions we are asked to abide by have merit. But I am just weary this mess.


In the midst of this weariness I have by calling and vocation been tasked with helping people, specifically church leaders, develop an adequate faith response to this crisis. I have been in Christian ministry for 41 years and this is the most difficult period of time to minister to people I have ever experienced. In some ways I think the church is thriving in spite of the stresses we face. But it is a difficult time to walk in faith and help others explore the grace and mercies of God. So like most everyone else I am COVID weary.


A couple of days ago I was reflecting on my weariness and the Lord whispered in my ear the ancient warning of the Apostle Paul “and let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9 KJV). The weariness of the times can cause us to be weary even as we make good faith responses to the situations of the day. Paul’s warning “Be not weary in well doing” is vital for our day.


When we get weary in well doing we tend to ignore the word of God. Oh we may still read it and understand what it says and may even try in general to follow the guidelines presented. But we do not internalize the word and allow it to saturate our souls and permeate our minds. We don’t find any joy in the lessons of the word of God. The actions of faith we take become perfunctory. They are just laborious tasks carried out with boredom rather than acts of love performed with joy.


I am asking the Lord to help me not be weary in well doing. I do not want the weariness of COVID-19 to steal the beauty and happiness and satisfaction of serving the Lord Jesus. Paul’s warning comes with the promise that if we can avoid becoming weary in well doing there will be a day of reaping. These are difficult days but they may be some of the best days of the church. They may be days that lead to revival. If we can learn to serve God faithfully, patiently, and constructively during these days I believe we could see a great awakening in the church. We are all COVID weary. But “let us not be weary in well doing”.

Resurrected Wounded

Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb on the morning following the Sabbath for the purpose of anointing the body of Jesus for burial. But when they got there the tomb was open and it was empty. There they encountered an angel who said to them “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you” (Mark 16:6-7).


We learn here of a bodily resurrection. A man who had been publicly butchered on a cross, pronounced dead, and hastily buried inside a nearby tomb sealed by a huge rock had come back to life. Not just enough life to make a few restless movements where he was laying but enough life to get up, shed the burial garments, move the heavy stone and walk out. That had never been heard of because it had never happened before. A dead man had come back to life. This once dead man was on his feet walking and the angel knew his plans and whereabouts. Knowing his plans the angel gave the women an errand “Go tell his disciples and Peter that he will meet them in Galilee”. This was a bodily resurrection. Jesus had not been whisked off to heaven. That would happen later but for now he was on earth in same body he had had for 33 years. He was walking around in the same body that had been killed. That body bore the marks of crucifixion. Jesus had been resurrected but he was resurrected wounded.


We know this to be true because after the resurrection Jesus presented himself alive to all of his disciples except Thomas. Not being present Thomas refused to believe saying “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe”. (John 20:25). Shortly afterwards Jesus appeared to them again and gave Thomas the opportunity to place his finger in the mark of the nails in his hands and place his hand in the gaping wound in his side.  Seeing and being with the wounded resurrected Jesus was necessary to prove his dominion over death and to build faith not only in the lives of the disciples but all the generations since that time.  


That morning the women found an empty tomb and received that wonderful message from the angel “He is risen; he is not here.” With excitement they left to spread the news and Jesus met them on the way. They saw the wounded resurrected Jesus and Jesus reiterated the assignment the angel had given them “go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:9-10).


Let’s understand the magnitude of that. It is 78 miles from Jerusalem to the town of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. That is a 3 day walking journey if you go through Samaria. If you take the longer but safer route it is a 5 day journey. Jesus is going to make that journey on wounded feet. The Roman government with encouragement from the Jewish community had put him to death in the most debilitating way ever devised by man. He was buried and then with the miraculous powers of heaven was resurrected in human bodily form. In that human wounded body he was going to make a 3 day journey along mountainous goat trails and dangerous roads.


But why was he going to Galilee? First of all it was a safe distance from Jerusalem. The reality of the empty tomb and the rumor of resurrection would have the government searching for him. Secondly, Galilee was home. It was a place where Jesus and his disciples could feel safe. Jesus had spent three years ministering in the region of Galilee. It was from there he had called them and instructed his disciples. Now he is calling his them to re-gather with him. It will be a time of fellowship. It will be a time of forgiveness. Peter had betrayed Jesus terribly. But we should note that the angel specifically said that Peter should be given the word that Jesus wanted to see him in Galilee. “Go tell my disciples, and Peter, to meet me in Galilee”. Peter was a failed soul but Jesus forgave him and had a great plan for how he would be involved in the kingdom. For Peter and for all of the disciples Jesus needed to gather them in order to instruct them and make his commission clear in their lives.


Jesus went back to Galilee in his wounded human body to demonstrate to his disciples that they could go into their worlds in their human bodies with all their faults and frailties to tell his story and fulfill the commission that was given to them. It is the same for us. We are called to serve Jesus. We are not called to serve him with what we do not have but we are called to serve with what we do have. What we have are our human bodies and our human minds. We are not Jesus and we have not been wounded in the fashion that he was. But we have been wounded. We have first of all been wounded by our sin but Jesus has forgiven us. We were dead in our sin but in Jesus we have been resurrected to new life. Because he lives we shall live also.  We have been hurt in this world but we have the comfort and abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. We live wounded but in Jesus we can go forward with the imperfections of our wounds to fulfill the commission of Jesus and promote the character of Jesus.


After a period of time Jesus went back to heaven where he reigns forever glorified. As believers we can look forward to a time when we will be with him with a new body in heaven. But at the present time we are the resurrected wounded. So let us strive to fill our wounded hearts and minds with the compassion and love of Christ. Let us journey forward with wounded feet. With wounded hands let us serve others, bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.