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Calm and Quiet Toddler

  • Posted on May 26, 2009 at 11:53 pm

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For Wisdom Wednesday, I started thinking last night about whether Scripture has changed me at all this week. Just the exercise of asking myself this question is good for me. I’ve read the Bible this week. I even thought about it. I didn’t always forget what I had read. But the question is, has Scripture changed the way I think, or what I have done, this week? That’s not a question I can answer glibly in ten seconds.

It’s embarrassing to state that God’s Word (when I read and obey it) is still challenging me to do simple things I keep writing about— wash the dishes when I’m tired, make a phone call, take the time to talk to Laurel when she seems like she’s avoiding going to bed but really afraid for her dad. Those things are simply the result of walking with God, not necessarily a specific passage that is changing me.

I’m reading through the life of David right now, and the chronological plan I’m reading inserts Psalms that were written during certain events (and some that carry the same theme). Mostly I think I’ve been reminded of God’s goodness and greatness. That helps me to rest in God’s care, to call on God for wisdom, to remember what God has done for me.

I love this passage.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131:2-3

I like the imagery of a young child who feels safe with his mother. He may have been crying in fear, but in mother’s arms, he calms down. Just like David, I can deliberately calm and quiet my soul.

That’s what God is reminding me this week. If I am going to have a calm and quiet soul, I have to deliberately take the time to dwell in the secret place of the most high. That is, I must spend more than five minutes of daily bread if I am to trust God. When in the past few months I was “too busy” to spend that time, everything in my life suffered. I’m remembering that it’s a good thing to be calm and quiet, even when my circumstances are not. God’s grace is sufficient for me.

How is God’s Word changing you this week?

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Parents or Bible?

  • Posted on May 6, 2009 at 3:26 am

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A Wisdom Wednesday Post!

I’ve not been reading through the chronological reading guide, and I’ve not been doing very well at memorizing Philippians (remember, our church is doing this: two verses each week for the whole year). It’s hard, but that’s not a good excuse. Yesterday, I decided to get back on track. I’m going to reprint out my verse cards, add the new verses that I haven’t worked on. At the least I can read the book through each day, right?

Here is part of the chronological reading for today:

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law [2] of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

I’ve not been delighting in Scripture or thinking about it beyond a few minutes each day. Part of the problem is that I’m spending more time with my parents. That’s a good and precious thing, but sometimes I need to choose the more needful thing. I’ve not been doing that. Truth be told, I may not have to choose between spending time with my parents and reading my Bible, if I’m diligent.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend some time driving while my children slept in the car. I was happy that I had time to meditate on what I had been reading.  Today won’t be so easy. I’ll need to be deliberate in how I spend my time.

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Serving with Gladness

  • Posted on January 7, 2009 at 5:00 am

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Last week and this week, the kids and I have talked several times about the phrase in Psalm 100: Serve the Lord with gladness.

Applications keep brimming over.

For the children, we’ve talked about it in context of a right response instead of complaining about chores. We discussed that sometimes, serving God can be inconvenient (like sharing a bedroom when company comes over, or giving the last of the sugar cereal to guests). Our responsibility is not just to serve God, but to find joy in doing so.

For me, I’m thinking in the context of Lee’s deployment. Can I really serve with gladness when I miss him dreadfully already? Yes, especially as I choose what and how to think. I can serve God with gladness as I watch his tender mercies: bringing to us a Christian Iraqi family with a DVD of their home church (no war) in Iraq, allowing our previous pastor to pick Lee up in Sacramento as he was enroute to the next leg of his journey, knowing that the dog I never wanted would be welcome as a mini-protector and companion.

If I choose to think about the misery of an uncomfortable condition, my desires of something different, the woe of repeated failure, and so on, I will serve with resentment.

But if instead I think about God’s provision and grace, if I remember that he is an all powerful and all loving God who is actively involved in every detail of my life, down to the hairs of my head, if I remember His sufficiency, I can serve Him with gladness.

That is my desire and prayer.

How is God’s Word changing you this week?

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