Steps of Wisdom

By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. (Proverbs 3:19-20)

I absolutely love this above passage.  It portrays a depth of God that we will never fully comprehend.  It’s saying that God used wisdom to lay the foundations of the earth.  He did not merely lay them down.  He didn’t just say let the water be here and the grass here and the sky here and oh while I’m at it, let me create some animals and maybe some human beings.  No, he thought through what He was doing.  He knew beforehand every single tree He would create, every animal, every fish of the sea, every fruit, every thing that we see, God took time to think through His creation.  It wasn’t happenstance!  God cared so much about us before we were even here that He took His time placing what we would enjoy on this earth.  That’s truly amazing!  I’ll never be able to comprehend that!  Especially when I tend to take it for granted more often than not.

The passage goes on to share how God set the heavens in place.  The details of our eternal home have been hand selected by God.  It too wasn’t thrown together.  It was placed exactly where God wanted it to go.  God designed it!  There were no home decorators or interior designers.  God Himself took the time to design our home.  The home that awaits us in eternity.  This gets me excited.  God has specific plans in mind.  He doesn’t take a single moment for granted!

Jesus had an amazing connection with this God that we study in Proverbs.  The One who took time to prepare both Heaven and earth for us.  We see this connection and how the wisdom of God passed down to His Son in Luke 4:42-44.  Actually, I’m going to refer to the place it’s mentioned in Mark 1:35-39 because I really like how it’s worded.  I want us to catch how strong the relationship was between Father and Son.  Jesus carried out the wisdom of His Father.

This passage begins by telling us that Jesus got up very early one morning while it was still dark and went to a solitary place to pray.  This is something we find on a regular basis through the Gospels.  Jesus got away to pray to His Father.  He needed time to refresh, reflect, and offer His new day.  I think it’s amazing sometimes how we think we can survive without time for God when we see that even Jesus needed this time.  Jesus was a perfect man and yet He needed time away with God.  That says something pretty powerful to me, as I know I have a lot of imperfections!  I know I don’t do well without my time with God.  It’s a lot better than a cup of coffee a day or whatever that jolt is that get’s you going.

Well, something happened that day that Jesus was praying.  His disciples came out and they were looking for Him.  I’m sure by this time they were getting familiar with His routine, but yet they seemed concerned.  They came to Him with their agenda.  They wanted Him to do something for them.  Here are the words exchanged on that day…

Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed:  “Everyone is looking for you!”  Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else–to the nearby villages–so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.” (Mark 1:36-38)

Have I told you how much I love this passage?  The disciples came searching for Jesus wanting Him to just come and take care of the people.  But Jesus had just finished spending time with God.  He found wisdom and direction for the day.  He knew what God had Him on the earth for.  He was not distracted by anything.  He did not concern Himself with things that weren’t eternal.  He knew God so well and walked in His ways.  He did not lose sight of His purpose.  I think we often lose sight of our purpose and too easily become distracted.  We think that we have to somehow take care of every bump in the road.  We forget to go to God and ask for wisdom.  We forget to start our day in prayer and seek God’s direction.  God will lead us.  He will show us where He wants us to go, who He wants us to reach, and how we can best be used.  He has plans for us that far exceed what we can imagine, but the day has to begin with Him.  Will we start our days with Him? Will we go to the One who laid the foundations of the earth, the One who has prepared Heaven for us?

Challenge: Read Proverbs 4, Try starting your morning with a prayer!  See how it changes the course of your day!

Memory Verse: Psalm 73:26

Dear Father God, This year I choose to commit my days to prayer.  I want to start every day with You at the beginning of it.  May You be my first thought when I wake up in the morning and my last thought when I lay down at night.  May I seek to follow You and Your ways in all that I do.  May I continue to offer my moments to You, as You can accomplish more in them than I ever could.  I continue to give You myself daily!

Taking the Steps towards more Wisdom in God,