Sharing Wisdom
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, August 18
Psalm 34:9-14
Our family consists of four adult children, their spouses, and 10 grandchildren. With everyone else in our family living in the US, this means we often parent and grandparent by long distance. When we spend time in the US, we usually live in one of our children’s homes with them. This gives us a chance to be parents and grandparents in person, not by FaceTime or by text message.
It is challenging to fulfill the words of the passage today, to teach the wisdom that we might be able to share with our children and grandchildren because we know that teaching isn’t just with words—it involves being present and living life together. We definitely are conscious, alert, and aware of those moments when we are able to share from a deeper place of wisdom with them.
Lord God, may the sharing of our wisdom with others today not be just words. May it be seen in our life. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS: COMMITMENT TO FOLLOW THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Asking for Wisdom
Monday, August 19
1 Kings 3:3-14
There is an art in learning how to ask. Learning Spanish has enhanced this art for me. We run into situations where how we ask is as important as what we’re asking. God grants Solomon the opportunity to ask. How many of us would like to find ourselves in the same situation? Solomon is careful in making his request. He takes four verses to get to where he asks for “an understanding mind…able to discern between good and evil” (v. 9, NRSV). It appears that Solomon might be looking for good justification and reason for his ask. From our point of view, perhaps it’s important to go through the preamble with God in making an ask. Yet, God just says, “Ask.” God is attentive and is ready to respond. And, as many times happens, God responds with abundance.
Lord God, when we make an ask with you, may we ask for what is your will and not ours. Amen.
Yearning for Wisdom
Tuesday, August 20
Proverbs 2:1-15
Many of us might experience moments or seasons of life when we are yearning to be saved. The causes of our desperation or anxiety or anguish can be many. The hope that the passage today brings us is that when we find ourselves yearning, crying out, raising our voice, seeking, and searching because of desperation, anxiety, or anguish, God is there. God responds with wisdom, knowledge, prudence, and understanding. What catches my eye in this passage comes from verse 1 where the author identifies to whom he is writing, “My child…” Oh, if we could only learn this truth as children that God will respond to our yearning, our crying out, the raising of our voice, and our seeking and searching! Oh, if we could only believe this without faltering as we move through life. God will respond. May we experience being saved once again by God.
Lord God, may we never tire of crying out to you for wisdom, knowledge, prudence, and understanding. Amen.
Wisdom That Endures
Wednesday, August 21
James 1:1-5
Being physically active is a means of delight and enjoyment for me. I have participated in team sports, running, hiking, and walking throughout my life. This has given me the ability to endure. I have also undergone 20 various medical procedures. My activity and these medical procedures have blessed me with experience in letting the work of healing occur. I am not an expert on letting healing take place, but I am experienced.
James writes to us today in the moments when we find ourselves in trials, being tested, and in moments of lacking what we sense we need. His advice to us comes in verses 4 and 5. As we face whatever we are facing, ask God for wisdom, James says, as God gives it generously and ungrudgingly. With the wisdom from God, we will be able endure and make it through to the other side. For me, this has been true.
Lord God, thank you for your wisdom, endurance, and presence to help me make it through whatever I am facing. Amen.
Wisdom Versus Temptation
Thursday, August 22
James 1:12-16
We all struggle with temptation. We aren’t all tempted by the same thing, person, or situation. But we all are tempted. James writes that we are blessed and that we will receive God’s promise of “the crown of life” (v. 12) if we endure temptation. Enduring temptation means trusting in and obeying God’s wisdom and not relying on our own understanding. I have spent 22 years of my life being educated in academic institutions. I have spent 34 years living and ministering with the Pacto in Colombia. I often pray that I do not believe that those accomplishments give me reason to think that I can rely on my own understanding and not seek God’s wisdom to guide my life or my daily decisions. My prayer for you would be the same. Whomever you are and wherever you are, may you seek God’s wisdom to guide your life and your daily decisions and not rely on your own understanding.
Lord God, thank you for giving us the wisdom to deal with what tempts us. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS: THOSE IN HOSPICE CARE
Musical Wisdom
Friday, August 23
Ephesians 5:15-20
Much of our ministry in Colombia as Serve Globally personnel entails travel to the five regional conferences of the Covenant (the Pacto). As we have grown into our ministry of mutual mentoring and spiritual formation with the leadership of the Pacto throughout the country, we know that it is the Holy Spirit who has led us and the Pacto leadership into this relationship of trust and companionship.
In our passage today there appears to be a direct correlation between music and being filled with the Spirit. I read this as encouragement to work toward incorporating some of the elements of music to be present in our lives and relationships with others—harmony, melody, putting our hearts into it, and having an attitude of thankfulness to God. While I am not very musical, I know that harmony and melody are present in the relationships that we have in our ministry. I believe this is because of the Spirit’s leading and filling.
Lord God, may our song today come from the filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen.
The Source of Wisdom
Saturday, August 24
Job 28:20-28
It is fitting that we end our week with Job 28. Verse 20 asks, “Where then does wisdom come from?” and verse 28 answers, “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.” Here the word “fear” does not mean being afraid. It is a faith relationship with God that is cultivated and produced from knowing who God is through his Word and living out that relationship in our interactions with our neighbor and with the person next to us, whomever that may be. In our world today, knowing how to serve our neighbor with love and grace truly takes wisdom from God. And his Word provides us with that wisdom, if we, with the free will God has given us, choose to commit ourselves to reading, studying, interacting with, and following his Word in every situation and circumstance.
Lord God, may our faith and relationship with you bring us wisdom in relating to our neighbor and the person next to us. Amen.
