Psalm 86:11, "Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."
Ecclesiastes 1:18, "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief."
Life is hard, but our hearts can be even harder. How many times have we all ignored good advice, only to find out the hard way? As for me, too many times to count with more sure to come. We trust in ourselves too much and ignore the warnings God provides through His Word and wise council. Proverbs 12:15 "The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice."
As C.S. Lewis conveys in his quote (left), God sometimes lets us hit rock bottom in our pains so that the only way to look is up--to Him. As fire and it's flame is tempting to a child, sometimes we can only learn life lessons by getting burned. Those burns of life hurt but we must see them as lessons, not scars.
How can we better listen to God's wisdom:
- Pray for an understanding heart, that would inform and instruct us in the direction to follow
- God teaches us with truth but we must choose to walk in it
- Have a heart solely striving to put God first, not divided with the world
- Ask for God's grace because our hearts are prone to wander after countless, meaningless things
- Expect that with the more you learn of God's truth, there will be a better clarity of the problems of this world and a grief from it
- "The more we know, the more we see there is to be known." Seek him with all your heart, mind and soul.
As for myself, I jokingly sing Toby Keith's song..."I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then. I wish I could start this whole thing over again"
...but that's not really true. I am thankful for all the hurts, crossroads and mistakes of my life because they all made me who I am today. That bumpy journey has made me cling closer to God's right hand, which has never let me go.