A calm spirit

He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. (Proverbs 17:27)

Have you ever had so much internal agitation that you found it hard to talk rationally or act responsibly? There is nothing our enemy likes more than for that type of agitation to take over within us. Confusion is a great tactic to keep us in a muddle and cause us to be paralyzed with fear. Worrying does us no good, but that is what confusion brings - worry upon worry, until we are either not able to take action, or worse yet, we take action that is impulsive. The consequences of both are alarmingly similar - we stumble around in our confusion and find ourselves feeling pretty helpless and sometimes even hopeless.

Our passage reminds us that “a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.” How on earth can we enjoy a calm spirit when everything is coming at us at break-neck speed and in a disorderly manner? What some of us have yet to realize is that actually living with a calm mind requires training. We don't just gain a calm mind by osmosis! It requires us to get into scripture, allow it to get into us, and then we rehearse it time and time again. We pray scripture - especially when confusion abounds. This is why God tells us to bring every thought captive - training our minds to focus on him, not the confusion that abounds.

A calm spirit is desirable, but is it achievable? Yes, with every action we take to bring thoughts captive and to recount the promises/teaching in God's Word. Peace isn't going to come into confusion until we allow it access. Most of us have a hard time always being in a state of a 'calm spirit', but we can certainly focus on developing one. Knowledge is good - wisdom is better - understanding is awesome. We get all three the more we study what God says, how he acts, and then take steps to move when he moves. A calm spirit isn't hard to find - it is found in the presence of the one who brings all peace. Just sayin!