Wisdom for Obedience

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8)

Generous Provider,

We seek to know your provision in our lives even more fully.  You have done incredible things in our family to care for us and bless us far better than what we have earned.  And far too often we haven't even acknowledged your hand in the simple meal that sits on our table.

You have been good to us and so it seems somewhat foolish of me to ask for more.  Yet all I am is a beggar with nothing that hasn't already been given by you.  What else can I do but continue to ask for you to provide?

So here I am, holding nothing in my hands that I have earned, only that which you've already blessed me with, asking you to bless me even more.

We seek to be obedient to you in our journey to seminary and whatever ministries it leads us to.  We seek to be good stewards of the money you've asked us to care for.  We want to live with your priorities in mind, giving our attention to our marriage, discipling our children, and ministering among your people.  We want you to be glorified in us as we strive to do your will in a new place.  We are excited for that adventure to begin.

But here we are waiting for you to move.  We are sure you are already moving in ways that we cannot see, so help us to trust your sovereign timing.  We believe that we have taken every step forward that we can and now just wait for you to provide.

You know the things we need and we anticipate this week an incredible answer to all of our prayers.  I've interviewed for jobs, we've shown our house, we've found houses that would be a great fit for our family and the results of those things are in your hands right now.  Please make this week an exciting step in our journey.  We know that your usually method of provision is quiet, consistent, and sufficient, but we pray for this step of faith in our lives to be marked with abundant provision and overwhelming response to our needs.

As we wait for you to reveal your work to us, give us the wisdom we lack, which you are thrilled to provide, so that we may no longer wonder in anxiety about what to do next, but we may trust in you standing on our firm foundation and boldly stepping forward in faith.

May the praise of our lips be heard all around at the revealing of your abundant provision in this moment.

Unfathomable Wisdom

“The Lord possessed me [wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.

Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,

before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.

When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.

(Proverbs 8:22-31, ESV)

Maybe I just have a case of the Mondays, or perhaps it's because my house continues to be a difficult sell in this supposedly sellers' market, but I'm feeling pretty crummy this morning.  Selling our house has been a major obstacle in getting to seminary.  We can't look at new homes until we know what we are getting with our old home.  It is a new home in a nice neighborhood with high quality features that most people dream they could have in their homes.  Yet, in this supposed sellers' market, the buyers are much pickier than I would have thought; not liking a certain neighbor, a bedroom in the basement, a family room too small.  And just when we think there is some hope with a new buyer, that hope is dashed and we are left wondering what to do next.

I often need to check my motives to be sure that I am not pushing for something that God has not planned for me.  Is He trying to move me in a different direction?  Why would He change my course after years of provision in this direction?

Is He telling me to lower the price even more so we have nothing but the clothes on our back to move and experience His daily bread provision in a way we never thought would be necessary?

Is He just telling us to wait a little bit longer?

Sure, it could be any (or all) of these, and each one makes me very uncomfortable.  And each one makes little sense. We need to get moving now.  We need that money from the sale to live for a few months while we find employment and a home.  We are confident that God has prepared us for and confirmed this move in many wonderful ways.  So what am I supposed to do?

I have no idea.  I'm stumped.

But one thing I need to remind myself of is God's infinite wisdom in it all.  We studied this section of Proverbs yesterday in Sunday School and it hit me pretty hard.  God's infinite wisdom was part of His character before the foundation of the world.  It was part of establishing all things and continues to sustain and create all things.  Daily, His providence is filled with wisdom; greater wisdom than I can comprehend.

So when I say that we are running out of time or money, His wisdom says He's got it all planned out.  In God's economy, there is no end to His time or money.  When waiting longer or moving forward with nothing doesn't make any sense in my mind, His wisdom requires me to trust Him.

Easy for my head to say to my heart, but even as I remind myself of these truths, it is hard for my unbelieving heart to understand and I limp along through the day with saturated eyes and a swirling mind.  This is my regular prayer these days, "God, help my unbelief!"

The Peaceful Sound of Crashing Waves

I was laying in bed last night relaxing with my wife on the edge of falling asleep and my mind rushed back to the time when we were married on a beach in Maui. 

While our room was nothing spectacular (having no breathtaking ocean views), we would leave the window open all night long so we could hear the constant sound of the crashing waves as we drifted off to sleep in paradise.  What an incredible blessing it was to get to marry my beloved on a beach in Hawaii.  It was like there was nothing else in the world to worry about as we were lost in the week that we hoped would never end.  It was certainly one of the greatest experiences of our lives.

And now, almost eight years later, as I'm lying in my bed I am drifting off to sleep again by the peaceful sound of crashing waves.  This time, however, I'm still in Minnesota; a thousand miles from any ocean.  Now the sound is coming from the baby wave machine in my newborn daughter's bedroom that I can hear through her monitor. 

This moment seems more peaceful than that previous one, because this came after nearly six weeks of getting less than minimal sleep.  I felt a combination of jubilation and great peace.  And also a little confusion about whether or not I owe Gary Ezzo our firstborn because of the great peace his book has provided our family.  All three of our kids responded well to the methods in Babywise, sleeping through the night after nine or ten weeks. Our newest, Olivia, seems to have gotten a hang of it in five weeks!

In the chaos of having three small children, two within 11 months of one another, and the busyness of selling our home and preparing to move, God has blessed us with good sleep much sooner than expected.  And just last night, our newborn gave us a break from her routine "witching hour" and went to sleep at 8:00 pm allowing us to have the most amazing quiet time that we've had in quite a long time.

So hearing the sound of crashing waves this time around was much more rewarding than that first time only hundreds of feet from the shore.  This time it was the perfect rest given at just the right time after weeks of dwindling energy being drained off by a houseful of little ones.

I drifted off to sleep thanking God for those sounds of crashing waves which were much more satisfying than any beach in Hawaii.