Scripture
32“And so, my children, listen to me, for all who follow my ways are joyful. 33Listen to my instruction and be wise. Don’t ignore it. 34Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home! 35For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. 36But those who miss me injure themselves. All who hate me love death.” Proverbs 8:32-36
Observation
I noticed that joy is mentioned twice as a fruit of spending time with wisdom. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom, always sends me home with a bountiful basket of fruit to eat off of for the rest of the day. Joy is just one of the fruits He is waiting to give to those who are waiting on Him (see Galatians 5:22-23). If I’m living with a lack of joy its probably because I have filled my calendar with appointments, activities, and pursuits that have taken priority over my time alone with the Lord. The picture painted here makes it clear that wisdom doesn’t come accidentally it comes intentionally. Am I waking up with a sense of expectation and anticipation that God has exactly what I need for the day? Am I watching and waiting outside His door or am I walking by on my way to something considered more pressing? The excuses are many. "But, God doesn’t tell me when He’s going to open the door and I can’t force my way in. I don’t have time for this. I’ve got things to do. I've gotta go. I'll come back later." Yet, if I truly believed that just on the other side of God’s door was something of greater value then silver, gold, or rubies (vs. 10-11) wouldn’t I clear my calendar? If I believed insight, strength, and success (vs. 14) were just on the other side of the door wouldn’t I wait all day for that door to be opened? What could possibly be more important than what God wants to impart to me today? When will God open His door? When I open His Word.
Application
True confessions of quarantined clergy have begun to emerge as the church buildings start to reopen in our country. These feelings aren’t being proclaimed loudly for fear of being misinterpreted. The truth is that in the middle of many pastors working hard to care for their people during Covid-19, pivoting from physical to virtual gatherings, there has been a silver lining. The religious activities that normally filled the church calendar were wiped clean in one fell swoop. Many have spent more time with their families and have reconnected with God during what some are describing as a “forced sabbatical”. There is even some quiet reticence as we begin to reopen the buildings at losing the simplicity that has been restored to so many schedules. Now, please don’t get me wrong, every pastor or leader I talk to is looking forward to the day we get to be in the same room to worship God together. For some, it will be sooner and for some, it will be later, but all are moving toward this. What we must not move back to is a calendar filled with ceaseless activity simply because “it’s what we did before.” The calendar will forever be divided. B.C.- Before COVID and A.C.- After COVID. What were the B.C. activities that need to stay in the past? What are the core initiatives that will help us to reach the lost and make disciples as we move forward in the A.C. days ahead? Every day I’m sitting outside of wisdom’s door because I don’t want to miss the rare opportunity I’ve been given to see The Church become what God has always meant it to be in these last days.
Prayer
With a blank canvas, a clean heart, and a clear calendar I come before the home of wisdom and wait. You know what needs to stay and what needs to go. This is Your Church and these are Your people and You have given us the gift of a restart. Return us back to the WHY of Your church gathered. I have been so caught up in the WHAT and the HOW that I lost sight of the WHY. In the past, I have pointed to my calendar filled with religious activity as proof of my devotion to You. Could it be that I was more enamored with what I was doing for You then actually being with You? Just because we could do it doesn’t mean we should do it. Lord, guide me with Your wisdom. Let me not assume that I know best simply because I’ve been doing this “church thing” for 20 years. I want to do Your thing and that may need to look different then what I’ve been used to. I repent that it took a Covid-19 Quarantine to get me back to waiting on You. My calendar belongs to You my King of Kings.
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