Shhhh. Do You Hear That?

“Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.” (Pr 8:1-2 AV)

 One of our biggest problems is we do not listen.  Right now, our great nation is standing opposed to one another, shouting.  Winning the argument is all we want to do.  As long as one shouts longer and louder than the other, then the battle is won.  What we do not see is listening.  In our passage, wisdom is shouting.  No one is listening.  She is shouting from the tops of the high places.  She is trying to get our attention.  She is screaming as loudly as she can that she has the answer and all we need to do is to be quiet long enough to hear and consider.  Mankind has tried to run this planet by its own wisdom.  We create laws and ordain leaders only to have our kingdoms fall.  Things do not get better; they get worse.  Yet wisdom is waving her arms and amping up the bullhorn.  As the donkey in Shrek, she is jumping up and down, “Pick me.  Pick me.”  The only way for us to fix the problems we face is to be quiet long enough to listen to the wisdom of God.

My brothers and I got into a scuffle or two.  My poor mother had her hands full.  It was always one of my sisters that tried to defuse the situation.  It wouldn’t matter what the scuffle was about, if they were near, they tried to intervene and settle the matter without fist-to-cuffs.  My sister Mary, whom I am closer in age than my other two sisters, was always by my side.  She was there when my younger brother and I hung together.  Looking at family pics, it is common to find the three of us together.  Matt and I butted heads quite a bit.  It was because he would never admit that I was always right 😉  It would not be out of the ordinary to find us going toe-to-toe as one or both of us were thrown over the front porch railing.  Most of these scuffles were not serious and Mary knew to give it about thirty seconds and it would cease.  However, there was a time or two that emotions got a little heated.  The situation was escalating to the point that someone would get seriously hurt.  Mary was always there to break it up and be the voice of reason to resolve the situation.  He was older than both of us, so she had tact and reason we did not have.  She had to get our attention.  We had to stop long enough to listen.

I know we are applying this to our national situation right now, but it applies to one’s personal life as well.  This is not merely for conflict resolution, but every choice of life.  Wisdom is not obscure.  God does not hide His wisdom as a treasure not meant to be found.  His wisdom is right out there in the open.  First and foremost, wisdom is found in the word of God.  It is there for our reading and studying.  Wisdom is found in the examples of others.  Good or bad.  We can learn from the consequences of the choices which others have made.  Third, wisdom is found in the very creation of God that sits before us.  We can learn from other creatures or principles of science that teach us about God’s priorities and laws.  All we have to do is be quiet enough to listen.  We are distracted.  We are hyped up on our own opinions and feelings.  We cannot quiet our mouths because we do not quiet our hearts.  We march right on to the ways of foolish mankind because we cannot shut our mouths and quiet our hearts long enough to listen to what God has to say.  This is wisdom’s frustration.  This is God’s heartbreak.  Mankind is on the brink of destruction because they will not be quiet long enough to let Him speak.  The One who knows all things and knows what is best is shut out of the conversation.  We need to study to be quiet.  Then wisdom can have her way.