I was scrolling through my drafts and found this one that I could finish rather quickly that I first started on in 2014. Wow. You're welcome America.
When I first became passionate about the Word of God, Solomon was my favorite character to study.
Later in life, (unfortunately MUCH LATER!) I began to see the danger of classroom wisdom.
Classroom wisdom is the wisdom acquired in large doses before it's applied.
The danger for me is pride. Much of the resistance I had in my younger years in the ministry was from people who sensed a deep streak of pride in me.
God had given me a very large dose of wisdom (all the glory goes to Him!) on how to raise my family in the fear of the Lord. The casualty rate of "preacher's kids" or PKs is high. It broke my heart to think that my children could lose their souls in a fiery hell because I had chosen the ambition of preaching the gospel.
God's gracious answer to my pleas for wisdom later resulted in the same trap that Solomon fell into as the result of his great wisdom, the trap of pride! (By the way, all my children, grandchildren, son in laws, to this point, are born again, serving God, and all make me rejoice!)
Much later in life, I began to yearn for grace, supernatural, overflowing grace that could change hearts and lives without the massive human intervention that seemed to be necessary for deliverance nowadays. Grace came from humility, but wisdom resulted in pride. Yet without wisdom or true knowledge, we, God's people, PERISH!
That's when God revealed to me the concept of JIT (just in time) wisdom. Let me illustrate.
I was involved in manufacturing spark plug wires for 20 years. Our raw materials were fiberglass, kevlar, copper wire, silicone, plastic, ink.
It is NOT good when it was time to make wire and no raw mateials were there. But it is almost as bad if we had an abundance of raw materials, for raw materials had to be purchased and stored at a hefty expense.
The ideal situation ws when we could arrange for our suppliers to ship us what we needed just in time, hence the acronym JIT.
I needed wisdom, but I had to trust that God would deliver the wisdom just in time. Since God's goal as well as mine was for me to attain humility, God had no intentions of making me flawless. Part of God's strategy is for us to fail every so often so that we can learn.
God's strength is perfected in our weakness. His Wisdom is perfected in our ignorance.
Education often creates as many problems as it solves. Walking with God keeps us humbly informed, not arrogantly educated.
When I entered the dating world very late in life, God made it abundantly clear that I would make some embarrassing mistakes. My daughters can say a very hearty amen to the fact that I made mistakes! I had some very important lessons to learn.
I had determined that internet dating was dangerous and foolish! No wise Christian should meet their potential mates on the internet. WRONG!
Now I am happily, joyously married to a godly, passionate woman who is a delight to me 24/7. We met on the internet.
God is VERY good at JIT. Elijah was fed daily by ravens. Later, on a daily basis, the widow's cruises will filled daily or JIT. The Hebrew children collected manna daily. JIT!
Just when the wine ran out, Jesus had more brought in, miraculously made out of water, JIT! When the crowd was hungry, they were fed with the miraculous fish and loaves, J - I - T!!!
Don't forget the upper room, or the colt for the triumphal entry, or the gold coin found in the fishes mouth, all of them miraculously produced JIT!
When it comes to wisdom, we want to be fully informed before we start out on an adventure, and we stay in the waiting room of fear. We have itching ears, looking for the perfect teacher, mumbling and whining about the flawed pastor we have, distressing our pastor and angering God. We all LONG to be teachers, contrary to the wisdom of James, who said not make teaching our main goal, but instead our goal should be to introduce our charges to THE TEACHER!
Step out in faith! Let the adventure begin! Don't wait for a road map! Start walking with the MAPMAKER!
He'll furnish what you need, including and especially wisdom, just in time!
Later in life, (unfortunately MUCH LATER!) I began to see the danger of classroom wisdom.
Classroom wisdom is the wisdom acquired in large doses before it's applied.
The danger for me is pride. Much of the resistance I had in my younger years in the ministry was from people who sensed a deep streak of pride in me.
God had given me a very large dose of wisdom (all the glory goes to Him!) on how to raise my family in the fear of the Lord. The casualty rate of "preacher's kids" or PKs is high. It broke my heart to think that my children could lose their souls in a fiery hell because I had chosen the ambition of preaching the gospel.
God's gracious answer to my pleas for wisdom later resulted in the same trap that Solomon fell into as the result of his great wisdom, the trap of pride! (By the way, all my children, grandchildren, son in laws, to this point, are born again, serving God, and all make me rejoice!)
Much later in life, I began to yearn for grace, supernatural, overflowing grace that could change hearts and lives without the massive human intervention that seemed to be necessary for deliverance nowadays. Grace came from humility, but wisdom resulted in pride. Yet without wisdom or true knowledge, we, God's people, PERISH!
That's when God revealed to me the concept of JIT (just in time) wisdom. Let me illustrate.
I was involved in manufacturing spark plug wires for 20 years. Our raw materials were fiberglass, kevlar, copper wire, silicone, plastic, ink.
It is NOT good when it was time to make wire and no raw mateials were there. But it is almost as bad if we had an abundance of raw materials, for raw materials had to be purchased and stored at a hefty expense.
The ideal situation ws when we could arrange for our suppliers to ship us what we needed just in time, hence the acronym JIT.
I needed wisdom, but I had to trust that God would deliver the wisdom just in time. Since God's goal as well as mine was for me to attain humility, God had no intentions of making me flawless. Part of God's strategy is for us to fail every so often so that we can learn.
God's strength is perfected in our weakness. His Wisdom is perfected in our ignorance.
Education often creates as many problems as it solves. Walking with God keeps us humbly informed, not arrogantly educated.
When I entered the dating world very late in life, God made it abundantly clear that I would make some embarrassing mistakes. My daughters can say a very hearty amen to the fact that I made mistakes! I had some very important lessons to learn.
I had determined that internet dating was dangerous and foolish! No wise Christian should meet their potential mates on the internet. WRONG!
Now I am happily, joyously married to a godly, passionate woman who is a delight to me 24/7. We met on the internet.
God is VERY good at JIT. Elijah was fed daily by ravens. Later, on a daily basis, the widow's cruises will filled daily or JIT. The Hebrew children collected manna daily. JIT!
Just when the wine ran out, Jesus had more brought in, miraculously made out of water, JIT! When the crowd was hungry, they were fed with the miraculous fish and loaves, J - I - T!!!
Don't forget the upper room, or the colt for the triumphal entry, or the gold coin found in the fishes mouth, all of them miraculously produced JIT!
When it comes to wisdom, we want to be fully informed before we start out on an adventure, and we stay in the waiting room of fear. We have itching ears, looking for the perfect teacher, mumbling and whining about the flawed pastor we have, distressing our pastor and angering God. We all LONG to be teachers, contrary to the wisdom of James, who said not make teaching our main goal, but instead our goal should be to introduce our charges to THE TEACHER!
Step out in faith! Let the adventure begin! Don't wait for a road map! Start walking with the MAPMAKER!
He'll furnish what you need, including and especially wisdom, just in time!
