And Because of That

Have you seen the pictures that people take of their dogs misbehaving.  Usually there has been some extraordinary mess and the dog is either looking guilty or the owner hangs a sign around their neck putting in in context. They make it look like the dog feels guilty for what it has done.  Of course the same joke doesn't work with cats.  Where dogs look guilty when you are unhappy, cats are smug and unrepentant.

The funny part of a dog looking guilty is that we all know it will not stop the dog from doing it again.  So often the changes that are made are in the owners, not the dogs.  We put our shoes away in a closet, keep a lid on the trash can, close the bathroom door and keep the dog out of that part of the house. In the end it is easier to train ourselves than to work those tendencies out of a dog.

Everything has consequences.  For good or for bad.  Either to ourselves or to those around us.  I live on a rural road that tends to get covered in snow drifts and ice.  If I drove 100 miles per hour down the road, there would be consequences.  I could hit and kill some one.  I could run people off the road.  I could lose control and go off the road myself.  I could upset my Amish neighbors.  I could put undo wear and tear on my vehicle.  There would be consequences, that is a guarantee.  

I think that wisdom is seeing beyond the immediate cause and effect of a situation.  Wisdom is the ability to see the big picture.  It is the ability to see far down the road and far off to the periphery and to anticipate the implications of our actions.  For example, a company can say that they will save money by paying their employees less.  The wise will see that if we pay them less, then they will be less content in their work.  And because of that, they will be looking for a better working situation.  And because of that, we will be spending money on acquiring and training new employees, and because of that we will not save what we thought.

Wisdom is seeing beyond the immediate.

The problem is that even the most wise can only anticipate so many possible options.  They say the difference between a chess player and a chess master is how many moves into the future they can anticipate.  But life isn't about facing one person in one space with a very limited number of options.  Life involves the thousands of people we encounter with infinite numbers of possible choices that each could be doing.  And because of that, we can't anticipate every thing.  

In First Corinthians, Paul writes that God "Catches the wise in their own craftiness".  Many of us think that our own knowledge is enough to carry ourselves along, But really, none of us can anticipate enough.  The key to real wisdom is to surrender our will to that of God's.  And through that surrender, He will reveal the best path for us.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

We accept the loving grace of God through Jesus Christ.  And because of that we can allow God's wisdom to guide our lives.  And because of that we can work for a greater purpose than we ever could achieve on our own.