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To suggest that wisdom is always balanced seems to me to be a bit, well, unbalanced. Whoever first uttered the words of wisdom, \u201cmoderation in all things,\u201d should, I believe, have healed himself. All things? Isn\u2019t that a bit extreme? In like manner, wisdom is almost always balanced. We need to measure the wisdom of looking before we leap with the equally potent conviction that he who hesitates is lost. We need to remember, as we loudly affirm that we ought not answer a fool according to his folly lest we be like him, that we ought to answer a fool according to his folly lest he become wise in his own eyes (Prov. 26: 4\u20135).<\/p>\n
Jesus, who is wisdom incarnate, wisely tells us that we must consider the cost. Only a fool would set about the business of building a tower without first determining if he had the resources to complete the job. Planning, according to Jesus, is good and proper. Out of this wisdom we have with all due wisdom extrapolated our calling to set goals before us, to look beyond today, to discern the times. This same Jesus, however, speaking through James His brother, says, \u201cCome now, you who say, \u2018Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit\u2019 \u2014 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, \u2018If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.\u2019 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil\u201d (James 4:13\u201316).<\/p>\n
It is a great thing to plan, to lay down your hopes and aspirations. It is a great thing, in fact, not just to hope for a particular destination but to map out the steps that will get you there. It is, however, incumbent upon us to do this as creatures, as vapor. We must remember our frame. We must remember that we simply propose while God disposes. If the Lord wills, we will do this or that. If, however, the Lord wills differently, His plans will supersede our own. Not only ought we to pray, \u201cnevertheless not my will but Thine be done,\u201d but we ought also to pray knowing that His sovereign will, in fact, will be done.<\/p>\n
If we would plan in accordance with God\u2019s plan, we must first know what God\u2019s plan is. He has not told us that we will go into such and such a city, buy and sell and make a profit. He has not told us that our five-year-old daughter will marry her eight-year-old neighbor, and the two of them will build their home on the back side of our property. He has not told us that our ten-year-old son will thrive in a particular line of work, and will, along with his own as yet unborn children, seize that whole industry for the kingdom of God. He has not told us that once we have seized this industry we will cooperate with the plan set in motion by Brother Jones fifty years ago so that we can together seize that other cultural doodad for Jesus. It is a shameful thing to be shortsighted. It is likewise an arrogant thing to boast that you can see far into the future.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s secret plan is just that \u2014 secret. We don\u2019t know His strategy, how He will move in this coming year, decade, or century. God\u2019s revealed plan is, well, that which has been revealed. He has told us what is required of us \u2014 that we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him (Mic. 6:8). He has told us the sum of the matter \u2014 that we should fear Him and obey all that He commands (Eccl. 12:13). He has called us to go into all the nations, baptizing them, teaching them to obey all that He has commanded (Matt. 28:19\u201320). He has told us that we ought not worry about what we will eat or about what our great grandchildren will eat. The Gentiles worry about such things. No, our calling is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). My prayer and my plan is that every day I would grow more faithful in this calling.<\/p>\n
This, we highly resolve \u2014 that we would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. If we would but keep this one resolution, we would witness worldwide revolution. Better yet, we would enjoy a new reformation. May God give us the grace to be extremists where we ought to be, that we would always seek out wisdom and rest in His finished work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To suggest that wisdom is always balanced seems to me to be a bit, well, unbalanced. Whoever first uttered the words of wisdom, \u201cmoderation in all things,\u201d should, I believe, have healed himself. All things? Isn\u2019t that a bit extreme? … Continue reading