Update #152 - Wisdom

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" Proverbs 1:7a

Gamble Gardens, Palo Alto, CA

I have a faithful and true friend who lives in Washington State. She has known me for close to 15 years and has walked with me through many tough, heart-wrenching, and difficult situations. She is grounded, Biblically solid, and calm… even in the face of the worst stuff she is matter-of-fact and digs to the root immediately. She has the talent of speaking truth in love and administering justice in a way you feel cared for and nurtured. I could be stuck in a tree looking for a way down and she is standing 10 feet away appraising the situation - looking for the best branch to lean a ladder against.

I have another friend in Southern California who is much like my Washington State cohort. She also has talked me down out of many a tree. She, like my other friend, is calm in adversity, level-headed, sincere, kind, and deeply cares about me. She has a scripture for just about every situation, uses e-Sword like a dictionary, and prays almost unceasingly. She is not only stunningly beautiful outside, but inside as well.

I sat thinking of them: one blonde, one brunette; one extroverted, one introverted; one single, one married; one with master’s level education, one with bachelors level; one a dancer, one a softball player – both with a love of VW’s, Jesus, and gourmet snacks. What, in addition to their friendship, made them stand out amongst all my other friends and acquaintances? What made them so special to me? Their wisdom. Both of these women had immense God-given wisdom.

I want to be more like these women and asked God how I could gain wisdom, knowledge and understanding (outside of him bestowing upon me the spiritual gift of wisdom - Corinthians 12:8). Proverbs 1:7a popped into my mind.

“…Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”

Ok, um, how do I do that?

I continued reading into Proverbs 2:1-5 and my question was answered:

“My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind; so that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge; truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge; if you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth; then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.”

Here are the bullet points I saw from this passage. I need to:

• Embed God’s word in my heart. Ok, I can do that – read my Bible, listen to sermons, read Biblically based articles…
• Cry out for good sense and knowledge (and in the processes be open to learning, constructive criticism and input into my life). Ok, that is a bit harder sometimes, but doable. Um, check.
• These actions will be the basis for the fear of the Lord (which is the beginning of all knowledge) growing in my life and becoming understandable. In time the knowledge I seek will be mine.

My two girlfriends have “the fear of the Lord” in their hearts. I can assuredly proclaim this because of the hallmark of knowledge and wisdom in their lives. What are you known for? What are you seeking after? Who are the people you turn to for wisdom and advice? Why? What traits draw you to them?

Updates:

Travel – Everyone is on their way home, or is back (G & L hurry home!). The trips, overall, were a great success – India, South Africa and Nigeria will never be the same!

Work – We are gearing up for a busy July – a ton of events, parties, and training begins. Check our website for more details.

Training - recruitment is underway! Want to learn what God thinks of business – and how to work every day from a kingdom perspective? Check out Repurposing Business Training.

Requests:

Work – Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting!

Life – Noodling the book concept, trying to get a greater understanding of what it means to “work from rest,” and trying to keep up with the Johnsons!