Wisdom Over Worldly Things

It was a beautiful song, now that I'd finally been able to listen to all the words.

Before this, I'd heard only fragments of the lyrics, and I had no idea how it would move me.

The same way, God is speaking to us through many sources, but we may hear only fragments at a time. He may use an inspirational  reading, a stimulating conversation, a perplexing problem or a story in the news...

Then in the quiet, we begin to process and put the pieces together.

Some of it begins to make sense, other things remain a mystery, for now. God shapes our perspective to give us a higher thinking; wisdom over worldly things. Instead of going with the flow of the world around us, our thinking begins to rise above, our perspective takes on a new capacity. We begin to realize things we can do.

The world groans for Godly solutions. Poverty, disease and oppression in the wider world view; as well as misguided pursuits, loneliness and suffering near to us, too.

God has given us what we need to reduce or solve many of these problems. He has given us resources and talents that match the gaps around us. Best of all, God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us. The Holy Spirit molds and shapes our hearts, and ignites the passions within us. He gives us the courage, the confidence and the cause!

As author Max Lucado says, "There are 145 million orphans worldwide and there are 236 million people in the U.S. that call themselves Christians. From a purely statistical standpoint, American Christians have the wherewithal to house every orphan in the world.

But I am only one person, I think. How can I solve the world's problems? I can't do it all, but I can do something. Why do these injustices remain when there are Christians with big hearts and amazing talents spread all over the earth?

Is it because we lack the quiet times? Maybe we are so busy in our own worlds doing what we think needs to be done, that we don't take enough time to listen for God's voice, to process what He is saying, to let Him fully equip us for what really needs to be done. We want to hear Him. But we often let our good intentions be drowned out by other distractions, all to settle for a lesser satisfaction. (You know, settling for what's good instead of what's best.)

If we miss the quiet, we may miss the wisdom of how the pieces fit together. We may miss out on being a part of the solution. We may miss the lyrics of the beautiful song that could be sung.

Dear Lord, help us to tune our ears to you so we can reach that higher perspective. My heart longs for solutions for hurting people. I will work to preserve that special quiet time with you. I will do what I know now, focus on listening, and trust you for each next step.

Proverbs 8:34 [Wisdom calls...] Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

Do you have enough quiet in your life to put together the fragments of what God is telling you? How do you preserve that quiet?