On a side note, it seems so much of our time is spent on things of lesser importance, sort of like the anxiety about sanctuary carpet color, knowing the 25 little-known Harry Potter facts, or maybe doing a study on the average length of lampshades in America. i must admit i’m pretty surprised and fascinated by the things people seem to think is so important. Like it’s more important to take an online quiz to find out what kind of potato you would be, if you were a potato, than it is to pick up the phone and have a short conversation with someone who needs to hear an encouraging voice today. Things of lesser importance seem to have completely distracted our entire nation…. another example – many seem to be overly concerned about the number of likes they get on Facebook, overly concerned if someone is texting them or not, whether or not they are wearing an acceptable style of clothing, being pre-occupied over if so-and-so saw me would they like my hair, etc, etc till the stomach turns.

We’d all do better by learning to ask ourselves –“what is critically significant in life”- and to recognize the things of lesser importance we are caught up in which cause us to miss out on what is truly important. It seems like it’s easier to watch a silly reality show than it is to spend a little time reading the Bible. i suppose our preferences are a pretty strong indicator concerning our relationship with God, wouldn’t you say?

Over time, the Lord has given me some little, hard-won wisdoms, and this evening i’d like to cover a few of what i’ve gathered.

1. The first little wisdoms on my list of “notes to myself” is the idea that “God comes TO us before He goes THROUGH us.”

To me that means we must become possessors and not simply professors – we must actually possess Christ, not just proclaim or maintain that He lives within our hearts while remaining clueless as to who He is and what He means when He says what He says. It also means we can know all about Hebrew and Greek and the Bible, yet rarely if ever do we connect with God. One of the saddest things i’ve ever seen is a man graduating seminary with a master of divinity, but he’s more lost today than he was when he started. Lately, i’ve been using a phrase to describe the response of many believers to deeper discussions of our faith…. that phrase is “white noise”. You may ask… maybe…what is white noise?

White noise is like tuning your radio to a place where there’s no station and nothing but the hiss of the radio…. no signal…. no music…. no nothing, just the sound of soft, consistent static. It can also mean, “random talk without meaningful content”. When we possess Christ, within ourselves we have a response. When we merely profess Christ and come to times of necessary response, we either give no response, or we only offer cheap, shallow talk with no meaningful content. i consider it a great disappointment when other believers have the opportunity to enter into a deeper conversation about God, but instead of being inquisitive, asking questions, and searching out answers, they bow up in pride, act all huffy, as if someone told them they were stupid, and either storm off, or just stare at you in silence.

1 Peter 3:15-16, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”

He comes TO us before He goes thru us so our answers aren’t merely academic, but truly Spirit-driven.

2. Another little wisdom is that “we seem to often confuse character with accomplishment”.

True, our conduct influences our character, and our character most definitely influences our conduct, but so often…. it seems…i find myself believing that if i could just do such-n-such, then i must be a good person, or, i might say to myself that i do good therefore i should get good. You know, even the worst people can do good things, and just because we do good things from time to time doesn’t mean we are people of Godly character. God’s idea of good works, isn’t about the good thing that was done but about the righteous heart behind the works. Even the worst sinners can do good things, but only the righteous are considered to have good works.

Matt 7:11 says that even those with a corrupt conscience know how to give good things to their children. In Christ alone is my character built, not just in doing some good things. i say it is always the right time to do the right thing….believe me, doing the right thing, even when it’s to our own hurt, takes Godly character. Testify. Let us reveal to the world our Godly character and not stop short of that unveiling by only declaring to them our accomplishments.

3. The next little wisdom is about forgiveness, which seems to be a repetitive and difficult lesson for many of us. “Forgiveness is not so much about the other person but about us as individuals.”

For as long as we don’t forgive, we stay chained to the other person, or persons, in the offense of the circumstances. Forgiveness restores the standard and good boundaries maintain that same standard of righteousness.

In 2 Timothy4, we read about how Paul, who was publicly confronted by Alexander the coppersmith, was called upon to give his self-defense at a preliminary trial. But when he stood to testify, no one stood with him as a friend. No-show friends seem pretty common these days, which means we must resolve to follow Christ, regardless of who clicks like on our Facebook page, or gives us verbal cudo’s when we need propping up. Then Paul says, “May it not be put to their account.” Even though all his friends were a no-show, he asked the Lord to not lay it to their charge. So what standard was restored by his forgiveness, even though scripture is silent as to anyone even asking for forgiveness?

i believe it was the standard of mercy and grace. His feelings were hurt by the no-show friends, but he chose to exercise grace and prayed that the Lord would not count it against them. Friends, there will be times in your life when support doesn’t show up – it’s not IF it will happen, it’s when it happens…. in light of that, how will you react? i like to think Paul knew they didn’t show up because they were afraid, and by his employing mercy and grace… he let it go. When friends don’t do what they say, let’s have grace for them and allow their offense to slide off our backs, knowing that God is faithful to address their issues in His time. Consider….the Lord was and is merciful and exercises grace toward us when we are unresponsive towards Him. God is generous, let us be generous also.

4. Here’s a little wisdom: “Silence can speak volumes if we’re willing to listen.”

Now i’ll be the first to admit, silence from any corner can be trying, but rather than object loudly to the silence, how about we listen to hear what’s underneath? Like “white noise”… rather than only hearing the non-response…. let’s go the extra mile to listen for what’s underneath it…and you KNOW there is a lot going on beneath the surface of silence.

Luke 14:3-4, “And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 4 But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go.” What was underneath their silence?

Ok, now this is just what i think, but i believe they were astounded by the position in which Jesus had placed them, and being unable to discover some means of saving face they simply remained silent, at which point Jesus healed the man, and since the man was evidently not one of the invited guests to dinner, the Lord sent him on his way. i believe their silence was about saving face. i believe their silence was about unbelief, and not knowing how to respond concerning was Jesus really who He said He was. It was about the fact that they couldn’t say it was not lawful, for the law didn’t forbid it. If it had, they surely would have spoken up. Jesus presented the opportunity for protest … and right in front of them was the perfect time to make objections if they had any… right now was the time to object and not after the man was healed. But yet, they were silent. Maybe it wasn’t so much that they objected to someone being healed, but more WHO was doing the healing.

Oftentimes, if we could hear what is in the silence of those around us, quite possibly we would find good reason to exercise great grace. Silence speaks loudly if we are willing to listen. Maybe fear holds people silent more often than we think; maybe most people really don’t know what to say – so they say nothing. We really, really need to learn to listen beyond just the words. i think maybe we’ve been taught to speak and to speak well, but it is rare to meet someone who has been taught to listen.

i’d like to add a twist to the “little wisdom” of “silence speaks loudly if we’re willing to listen”, and that is the side note that silence is not ALWAYS golden. For example, when someone is mad at us and they may give us the silent treatment. This kind of silence, however, usually means they are playing a cruel game of “who can care less, the most, the longest”. And to add further complication to the idea that silence speaks volumes if we’re willing to listen, what do we do with the Silence Of God? Oooo! Profound question there. i have a small amount of wisdom on that…..i’m afraid it’s not much, but here it is: When God is silent, let us wait patiently knowing He will indeed answer, letting strength rise as we wait, learning to live well where we are until the Lord replies. And know this, He is faithful… He WILL reply.

5. “Anytime we “turn on the light of truth, somebody is sure to cry”.

Or, i suppose that could be restated as “You can rest assured that anytime we present the Good News of Jesus Christ, someone will find a reason to object.” Let’s not worry if someone is going to feel hurt when we are truthful about the gospel …..it is necessary that we testify. The gospel of Christ rocks people’s boats, it unbalances their world perspective, it shifts the earth plates in all their agendas, and unclutters chaotic thinking…. in light of that, someone is going to be disturbed and troubled. As preposterous as it sounds, we must realize that there are people who actually thrive in chaos, they Godlessly prosper in a perfect storm. God is not surprised, and when it happens, we need to keep our focus on presenting the gospel, and not be swept into silence because we are afraid of what others will think. i have often found myself being the generator of “white noise”, or non-response – just the noise of nothing but moving air, and oh gosh, haven’t i left a discussion only to repent later for my silence on behalf of the gospel? Truth be told, i was afraid of the potential confrontation and didn’t feel i had a good reply at the moment or maybe i was afraid the people in the discussion wouldn’t like me, which would mean they might not speak to me anymore. Either way, at the core of my non-response, i was afraid.

1 Peter 3:16, “Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” The world often sees the Gospel as scrutinizing, and any time we turn on the light of Christ and the world feels scrutinized, somebody is gonna cry.

Psalm 30:5, “…The Lord’s favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”

6. Here is wisdom we should all heed: “An oath is only as good as the person behind it”.

The moment someone says to me, “I swear it’s the truth,” immediately i have red flags of doubt go up. Chances are good that my red flags of doubt go up because so often in the past my experience has been when someone swears something is the truth, loud, long, and often, it has typically not been the truth. As a result, i tend to project into the future what i’ve learned from the past, meaning due to history i tend to doubt someone who makes an oath and swears up and down it’s true. “An oath is only as good as the person behind it” and once someone has proven themselves to be unreliable in keeping their word, i believe it is nearly, if not probably impossible to become expressly and exclusively trustworthy again. It’s like there never fades this little inkling, a little thin shadow of doubt. It’s as if once we violate trust, even if for years we prove ourselves to be of reliable and faithful character, there will often seem to be a little thing in the back of people’s minds that will niggle at them to not be so trusting.

Many people will swear by God….on someone’s grave, or even swear by some false god as to their truth and sincerity, and then they’ll say if they fail to keep their oath they will expect some kind of punishment should they either be lying or fail to live up to their pledge.

Friends, there is no such thing as “personal truth”. There is only one truth, Jesus. Also, i think this is wisdom….if you don’t have to swear and make an oath, then don’t.

Let’s be very careful with all our swearing and declaring, James 5:12 reads, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes,” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into hypocrisy.”

And really… above that, the truth is… we should put our trust in no one BUT the Lord for He alone is sovereignly faithful. In fact, the Lord is so confident in His ability to do all that He says, we see God swearing by himself in Genesis 22:16, swearing by his holiness in Psalm 89:35. In Isaiah62:8 the Lord is seen swearing by his right hand (the right hand being the hand of prosperity), and swearing by his great name in Jeremiah 44:26…..all that in order that He might stress the absolute certainty and immutability of His performing that which He swore. The Lord is the most reliable person in the entire universe and if He promises anything, we can stake our lives on it; He does not fail. God is good for His promises and truly, He is as good as His oath.

Think about it.

Let wisdom sink down into your soul, and notice, it is subtle, and most of the time the wisdom the Lord gives us doesn’t first appear as earth-shattering, but as it unfolds in our lives, we see the face of God, His glory rising in our hearts……it is there to help us navigate life, sort of like …..it is wise to learn to make small talk….if we don’t learn the art of small talk, we’ll probably miss seeing the green shoots of grace which grow in people’s back yards.

And to that i’ll say, think about it….amen.