No Wisdom For Consequences

“Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:” (Pr 1:28 AV)

There is no wisdom that will overcome consequences.  This is the idea.  Wisdom pleads with man.  She offers all she has.  If man refuses to heed wisdom, then consequences come.  Wisdom can do nothing at this point.  Consequences come and there is no escape.  The point of wisdom is to heed it before consequences become the issue.  Once consequences settle in, there is nothing to be done but to endure through them and learn the lessons which they teach.  Wisdom pleads and begs man to listen.  She cries out to the simple and offers all she has.  She shares what she is so the simple to not suffer.  It is up to us to heed her pleas.  It is a gracious offer.  It is a kind and benevolent offer.  It is an offer without favoritism.  It is an offer for all.  Her offer of wisdom is to any and all who wish to live their lives free from the consequences of simplicity and/or disobedience.  If ignored, there is nothing she can do.

Last year, my wife called me with car trouble.  The car was shaking and making funny noises.  She thought she has run over crash debris and caused damage to the underside of the car.  I had to go out with my deacon and rescue her.  I had bought a small air compressor, thinking I would come upon a flat tire.  I was partly right.  For the last two years, especially during the winter months, the tires on my car would lose air.  I thought it was the radical temperature changes causing the tire pressure light to come on.  Much of the time, it was.  Even after they were initially installed, the fall and spring months would come and the light would come on.  My tires looked decent.  They still had sufficient tread.  If all I had to do was put air in them every other day, that saved me from having to buy more tires.  My mechanic, however, told me twice that I needed new tires.  He said he would not rotate them anymore.  I believed him.  But felt I still had at least a year left on them.  That was until my wife called me.  Time for new tires.  Wisdom was trying to tell me the tires I had were not safe.  If, in my arrogance, I ignored her, the next call concerning car trouble might have come from the coroner.

Some things don’t end as well as they did above.  We are all like this, to a point.  We are all hardheaded.  We learn things the hard way.  If we fail to heed wisdom, humility is the way out.  Accepting the consequences for unwise choices and submitting under the authority of the One who determines consequences is the only way we will learn and grow.  God is merciful.  His mercy endures forever.  He is not a tyrant.  He is not unjust.  He always has our best interest at heart.  The consequences He sends are for our growth.  We have gone beyond wisdom.  Wisdom has passed us by.  Or, I should say, we have passed wisdom by.  Once we cross that threshold, there is only one thing that will teach us the lessons we must learn.  Wisdom can only teach us how to prevent the possibilities of the future.  Once the future becomes the present, there is no more wisdom.  This is Solomon’s point here.  We all fail in this area.  That is what growth is all about.  We fail to listen to the wisdom of God, learn because of it, and do it all over again.  Sorrowing over the consequences is not the answer.  Accepting them, internalizing them, and going on is the right course.  Praise the LORD there is no wisdom by which we might escape present circumstances.  Otherwise, we would never learn.