“Let all who are simple come to my house!”
Summary: The complexities of life are brought on by trying to live by our human standards instead of God’s.
Despite all the words that go into making a blog post every day, I am a simple man at heart. I have simple feelings and my wants are simple.
For all of that, life still seems complicated. Churches sometimes seem to be so busy shooting themselves in the foot that it is hard to hear the Gospel message. Politics seems to have invaded every aspect of life and brings with it the aroma of old meat gone bad. People who do not tell the truth make things even more complicated. Truth and lies become so intermingled that sorting out the noodles in a bottomless bowl of spaghetti sounds easy by comparison.
Wisdom doesn’t make the world any less corrupt, but she does simplify the process of figuring out the difference between right and wrong.
You see, without God’s guiding light, we have to make it up as we go along. Keeping our stories straight is a lot of work. Getting caught in a lie is even more work! Life gets complicated and when things go sideways, things get out of hand.
When the simple takes shelter in Wisdom’s house, everything becomes simple again. The truth is truth and God is God. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Sound easy? It is!
Application: Submit to God’s will and his will becomes easy. (Matthew 11: 28-30)
Food for Thought: Why do people with complicated lives avoid Wisdom’s house?
Great cartoon.
People avoid God’s wisdom and counsel because they have believed a lie that tells them the world’s way is better. Sin complicates everything just as a lie does, because lying is a sin. Life is complicated enough and no one needs the extra stress or drama – but many do chose that life by not coming to Christ or maturing in Christ. At the end of a section about spiritual wisdom, Paul tells the church in Corinth what he does in 1 Corinthians 3: 1 – 3.
Rich,
The devil’s lies are insidious, seeping into our conscious thoughts and draining away our strength. Choosing to believe the lies is debilitating. As believers in Jesus, we must constantly wage war against the lies, always coming back to the foot of the cross and always trusting our Lord and his wisdom.
April 2, 2022, Proverb 9:4a, Why do people with complicated lives avoid Wisdom’s house?
“ Avoiding Wisdom’s house makes life complicated.”
Knowing men were coming to arrest Him, Jesus prayed. “Father, if it’s possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. But let your will be done rather than mine.” This is the prayer of all believers.
Recently, I developed my second Aorta aneurysm (a balloon in my Aorta which was growing, and at some point would burst.) All my blood would be released into my stomach cavity and my body would cease to function. My doctor was an Orthodox Jew and we periodically measured the growth using electronic devices. Because of COVID, the medical world had increaser the surgery size of the aneurysm before surgery by 20% and even then chances of getting in were slim. Eventually, my doctor told my wife and I, surgery was required. BUT, due to conditions of the interior wall of my Aorta, I would most probably be blind or paralyzed from the waist down. He asked me what I wanted to do. I thought for a moment and said, “ doctor, you and I both know our creator is sovereign, correct.” He responded yes, and I said, “ then let’s let Him decide.” We did and today the aneurysm is repaired and I am walking around with no change in my vision.
Praise God!
Soon after, my wife began developing headaches, vision, hearing problems as well as neck, shoulder and arm pain. We went to a number of doctors who could find nothing wrong. Eventually we found a specialist at OHSU who told us the problem was an “arteriovenous fistula” in her head ( an artery had joined with a vein and their was a blood flow, pressure problem ) Her symptoms began to multiply and become more intense, she could not drive or dress herself. And the doctors viewed the problem via CT scam and MRI exams. In the end they told us they were going to electronically monitor her condition for the next couple years and see what developed.
After many conversations, the doctor/professor/director of the specialists who preform surgery for my wife’s condition, a man with 30 years experience is now getting a surgical team together to operate on and correct my wife’s condition.
Praise God!
We have walked, talked and cried together as we have traveled through these two issues. But we have never questioned God’s sovereignty or His love for each of us.
I suggest we make life complicated when we question God’s will in our lives and choose to struggle with Him. He wants us to come to Him, ask Him to change circumstances, but in the end acknowledge His sovereignty and move on. Serve God, let God be God and life becomes simple.
Ron,
I apologize for the delay in posting your comment today.
Praise God that your wife is going to get treatment!! Thank you for sharing your faith journey with us.
I appreciate your wisdom for us, too: let God be God. Amen!
Why do people with complicated lives avoid Wisdom’s house?
I’m still trying to learn and trying to grow. I’ve lived my life in the dark for a long time and it is hard to adjust to the light. It’s harder to adjust to the light when someone throws salt in your eyes at the same time.
So I’m going to say I don’t know I’m here to learn.
Tim,
Your words illuminate something we all struggle with, although we might not all understand what is going on.
“Adjusting to the light…”
I hadn’t thought of it that way before.
This afternoon the sun came out while I was driving and I put sunglasses on. I adjusted for the light by limiting how much light came to my eyes.
Do we do the same thing spiritually?
It is an interesting question. I will have to think on it.
Thank you for sharing!