“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”  (Psalms 111:10, NIV)

Being actively involved in the realm of Christianity, I am mindful today of all the places and situations and relationships I am involved in where people are saying they want to have God’s wisdom.  Whether it is a family problem or situation that needs solutions, or churches needing to make ministry plans, or even conventions that are seeking to understand what the future of their organization should be — all are asking for wisdom from God.  It is the prayer at all the meetings and in the bedrooms and front rooms of homes, “Lord, please give us your wisdom and show us your way.”

Now, those are important desires for families, churches and conventions, along with Christians in business and other areas of life.  And that prayer is an important prayer to pray when those are our desires.  But, what’s next?  I mean, after you have shared thoughts and ideas, searched Scripture, and prayed for God’s wisdom to show you the way – what then?

Where is wisdom found?  I think the psalmist gives us some important clues to the discovery of wisdom in Psalm 111:10 as quoted above.  First, it is found by those that “fear” the Lord.  Vines OT Words resource says that this word means, “to be afraid, stand in awe”.  This is that old concept that someone has a profound respect for God and his power that causes them to be careful in their living.  It is about a reverence for God because we know the awesomeness of his person and power.  And, when we come to the place of reverent awe for God, we place ourselves at the starting line of pursuing true wisdom.

Second, wisdom is found on the road of obedience by “those who follow his precepts”.  Other words that could be substituted for “follow” here are: do, execute, work, perform, maintain.  Do you get the idea?  Following God’s precepts is about doing something with what you know.  You know, education is something that is valuable, and the study of God’s Word in Sunday School, small groups, worship services, and so on is a great and needed thing.  But knowledge alone does not equate with wisdom, and knowledge apart from obedience is just empty and only produces religious piety.  No, we have to DO something with what we already know from God in order for God to be able to give us wisdom.  In other words, wisdom is found, not at the starting line but in the race of life, while we are running after God and obeying what we already know from him.

My concern, for myself and other believers, is that we somehow become too comfortable with learning about God and then failing to follow God – waiting for him to do something or give us something before we ever get off our butt–on tufted couches and pew cushions.  Individuals, families, churches and conventions and ministries – if you want wisdom from God for your future, keep moving.  Take what you know from him and from wise counsel as you share with one another, and keep running the race with what you already have so that God can take you into the future with wise plans and strategies to accomplish his will.

And by the way, while you are running the race with what you already know God wants you to do, don’t forget to SING!  Because, “To him belongs eternal praise”!  Eternal is not just someday in the future, and it isn’t just about the mountaintop experiences of the past.  Eternal includes today, and no matter where we are or where we are going, or what we are going through, God still deserves our praise because of who he is and that we belong to him.

I’m sitting in my office and looking out the window in contemplation about some things we are working on in our ministry.  And as I look at the mountains in the distance I notice a bird, or birds, flying back and forth, up and down.  They are obviously building a nest somewhere on the building above my office window.  Back and forth, up and down, carrying twigs and grass clippings up to that home under construction.

Sometimes a bird will fly up with a piece of building material that seems bigger than they are, and then I watch parts of all of it come tumbling or floating back down past my window.  Obviously this is a precarious work in progress, and it has built into it some things that don’t work out completely.  I don’t know if birds get frustrated, but I sure would – putting all that labor into the project only to have things fall off and having to retrieve them again.  That has happened to me a time or two working on stuff at the house, so I know whereof I speak.

But, all of this got me thinking about what the Lord says about birds, and even more what he says about birds that applies to my own life with him.  Remember these words, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”  (Matt 6:26, NIV).  I am reminded by these birds outside my window that God knows all about them and cares for them, BUT I am much more valuable to him than they are.  Sometimes it is easy to begin thinking that, in the scope of everything in the world that God is involved in, I am very insignificant.  But that is not true – I am significant to God, my life does have value beyond what I can imagine.  And, God has promised he will take care of me.

And, I also remembered something else, “Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head’.”  (Matt 8:20, NIV)  Christ’s coming to earth, living like we do as a human being, was not an easy thing at all for him to do.  He sacrificed his place in heaven so he could live, die and rise again – all so we could have eternal life in him.  It reminds me that in Matthew 6 Jesus went on to say, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  (Matt 6:33, NIV)

And so, little birdie, thanks for the reminder today, and the lessons you remind me of from God’s Word.  Today, I need to be less concerned about material things and more concerned over eternal matters at hand, in my life and in the lives of people around me that I might have influence on.  And, though life can be frustrating as things don’t always work out like we plan we have to remember that the Lord is watching and he knows about our struggles.  He is even using some of those struggles in life to grow us into who he wants us to be.

So, today I am thankful for all that God has done for me, so much so that I will renew my commitment to seek HIS kingdom and righteousness ahead of anything else in this world.  And I’ll just choose to let go of the frustrations of life and rejoice that he knows me and is watching over me.  And too, I will watch as the nest built over my window brings new life into the world – and maybe, just maybe, what God is doing in me can bring new life to someone else.

Amen.