Knowing what to seek

Personal Photo: Here is the view from the front porch in Tennessee. I curled up on the chair with my camera and snagged some lovely photos of the birds so nearby. The September sunshine felt more like leftovers from August and I couldn't help but snap a photo of this scene. It is so lovely to me, so peaceful.

Last weekend, when Clay and I got off work, we loaded up the car and we hit the road south to Tennessee. The house in Tennessee has always been a reprieve, a place where we could go to hit the reset button and unwind, and last weekend was no exception. I find that while I am there, my life simplifies, I slow down a little bit, and I go back to the things that really create peace in my heart. For example, my mom and I took our iced down waters and we brought the dogs and we sat on the front porch together. The back deck is where the view of the lake is, but the front porch's serenity is nothing to scoff at. The beautiful trees that hug the space out front, the shaded porch that is quiet, and the show of birds from the tree branches to the bird feeders so close certainly put on a show. We sat out there for quite awhile, just enjoying the time outside, the time together, and the break from the racing around of life.

It did wonders for my perspective. My phone was inside, there was no television on, not even any music (gasp!). We just took a little time, undistracted, and lived in the present moment. Distractions are around us constantly, stealing our attention from the most beautiful spaces and things that God has created around us, and spending our time on shallow, meaningless things we can find on our phones or in technology. Even technology companies know that they have addicting products, which is why the 'Do not disturb' feature is on our phones now, indicating to the phone that the notifications that come through while it is turned on are not meant to make any sound, or any indication that they have been received. Ironically, I felt like I was turned on 'Do not disturb' mode when I was sitting there enjoying the break from it all. The present time and place was all we needed.

I consider this idea of 'Do not disturb,' and how easy it is to mess it up. With the responsibility to turn off notifications, voices, and noise, we can quickly turn it off to the wrong people, and leave it on for the wrong ones. I question how often we have turned 'Do not disturb' on for the Holy Spirit, for God, when we so eagerly have the volume of the world turned up, the noise overwhelming us, and the busyness of it all blinding us to our own actions. It is a part of life I have been wanting to dig into for over a year now, but never quite had the words when I sat down to write it. However, when I considered a topic for this week, when Clay said the word 'wisdom' to me, it turned this whole topic of 'Do not disturb' on its head. Instead of focusing on if we had silenced the Word of God in our lives, I could really talk about working with God to develop the wisdom to know when to seek Him, and where to find Him. It creates in us a tool, an action plan for when we find ourselves in need of guidance, in need of a break from the noise around us. Just like my front-porch sitting, it shifts the 'Do not disturb' from silencing God instead to knowing when to silence the world. Wisdom was a step I was originally missing in my concept, and it was the perspective change that made this article possible.

In Sawyer Brown's 'The Wiseman's Song,' the singer tells the tale of the perspective of the Wiseman going to see Jesus in the manger when He was born. In the second line of the song, he sings "I believe wisdom is knowing what to seek." When we take this line and really dig into it, he is right. Being wise does not necessarily mean that we are the smartest person in the room, but rather that we have the perspective and the awareness to be able to seek help from where we need it. I titled this article 'Knowing what to seek' because we can all use the reminder to work on developing our wisdom, seeking the things that are pleasing in God's eyes, and understanding that the value of wisdom, the peace it creates in us, and the roadmap to God that is provides are all unmatched.

Psalm 111:10 informs us that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!" Here we can see that the very first step to wisdom is fearing God. Recognizing and respecting His power and might changes everything for us. This first step is a big one, make no mistake. Therefore, when we take that step, when our perspective changes from 'I can do it on my own,' to 'I need God's help to do this,' we exhibit wisdom. There are so many chances for us to ignore the amazing capabilities of God, even with our small understanding of His vastness, but when we respect Him, when we fear Him, we have taken the first step to developing the wisdom we need to know when and where to seek God. Without fearing the Lord, we would not be motivated to seek Him out. Furthermore, Proverbs 3:7 tells us "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil." This verse gives a little more insight as to what it means to be wise. It is not defined by how we see ourselves, or how others see us, but rather it is in the fundamental principals of listening to God. it is exhibited and developed when we follow the Lord's voice and His teachings.

So where can we find wisdom, how can we develop it further than fearing the Lord? When we are in need of guidance, perspective, and peace, we are told in James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." Really, this verse goes hand in hand with the two above, reminding us that once we fear the Lord, we are motivated to seek Him out for help. In this way, we are told in this James verse that when we ask, we will not be turned away, we will be rewarded with God's generosity. There are no strings in this message, but rather James is making sure that we know we are welcome to ask God for wisdom, that when the Holy Spirit develops wisdom inside of us, it also creates an intimacy with the Lord. Wisdom comes directly from God, and in the same way, it cannot come from the world because the world twists it and tries to distract us from our mission as children of God. In James 3:17, we get a little more insight as to what the characteristics of Godly wisdom are: "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." This is when we can understand what it looks like, what wisdom creates in us, and why it stirs up the desire to seek the Lord. None of the qualities listed in this James verse are from the earth, and they give us goals to set for ourselves when we are working on cultivating wisdom with the Holy Spirit within ourselves.

The value of wisdom is entirely unmatched. It is a gift directly from God, one that He gives generously. It is the tool of understanding that we can develop in order to know when to seek the Lord, and where to find Him. Wisdom and the Holy Spirit are heavily intertwined, as with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, wisdom comes as well. When we consider how precious the tool of wisdom is to us, we can refer to Proverbs 16:16, which reads "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!" Here we can see once again that wisdom comes from God, it is not an earthly possession. We cannot purchase it, borrow it from a neighbor, or mine it from a far country. Rather, it is the compass inside of us that directs us. It is the yearning for intimacy with God. It is the trusting in God's promise to never let us fail. Proverbs 24:14 tells us "Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off." Here we are promised the outcome of seeking wisdom, of using that wisdom to seek God. We will have hope, we will look forward instead of backward, we will be able to accomplish great things for the glory of God. When we welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we open the door for Him to bring this wisdom into our lives and into our perspectives.

Seeking God allows us to discern what is pleasing in His eyes, and we are able to harness the insight that comes as a follow-up to wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what to seek. When we seek God, we exhibit wisdom. When we seek God, we are able to put the world's noise around us on 'Do not disturb' and focus on the things that bring us peace. When we seek God, we are creating an intimacy with Him, in order that we can trust in His promises, hear His voice, and do effective work for His glory. Seeking out time with God, time with His creations, time with the simple things He has blessed us with, creates within us a peace, an understanding, and a perspective of gratitude for the gift of wisdom.