Two tools to have at the ready

 My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace. (Proverbs 3:21-22)

So many times, we count on something other than common sense to get us out of a sticky place. We got ourselves there because we didn't use common sense in the first place! Discernment is just a fancy word that describes the ability to see good from bad and then make the best choice. When we don't use either of these helpers God gave to us, we find ourselves in a muddle. God's purpose in giving us these "tools" was that we'd actually use them.

We aren't acting "independent" of God when we use discernment. We are using the good sense he gave us to "interpret" the moment. Yes, we might shoot up a quick prayer asking God to give us wisdom, but we can begin by listening to our conscience. It tends to niggle us a bit when common sense tells us something is not right for us. Perhaps our conscience has become a little confused by the many times we have violated it. God can restore it when we ask for his help to discern correctly what the moment challenges us with.

The tools God gives in the form of good sense and discernment are in our "immediate" toolbox of 'godly helps' to assist us in making wiser choices. Ignoring them while waiting on God to reveal something else that we label as "godly wisdom" is just silly. The more we use the discernment he gave us, the stronger it will become. Notice that they are gone kept close. That is because they are our"go to" tools when temptation or uncertainty arise. They are like our first line of defense. 

The wisdom God develops as we lean into these tools will become apparent to us as we look back at how we handled the temptation or trial. Just use what you were given and see how God multiplies his good sense and discernment in your life. Sometimes the simplest "tools" are the best ones to use. Just saying...

I couldn't - could I?

It is one thing to "know" and another thing entirely to "obey".  One is having an acquaintance with what is expected - the other is actually putting what you know is expected into action so it influences your actions.  There are a tremendous many people who go through life "knowing" all kinds of standards, but then walking by an entirely different set of standards.  In my office I have a little plaque which reads: "Every time you walk by the violation of a standard, you set a new standard."  I think this is so very true in every area of our lives - whether it is spiritually, in relationships, or financially.  We go about setting all kinds of "new standards" in life, sometimes without any real effort or intent - it just happens because we don't stop long enough to think about what we are saying, doing, or responding to in the way of "feelings" or "emotion". The last time you spoke a little "harsher" than you wanted to - did you give that one much thought?  The last time you compromised on your diet - did you really think about the effort it would take to do away with those extra calories consumed?  The last time you just blindly did something - did you really stop to consider the consequences of just doing something without knowing a little more about it?  We can all probably answer one or more of these questions with a resounding "no".  Why?  We ALL have moments when we "know", but we don't follow what we "know".

My child, you must follow and treasure my teachings and my instructions. Keep in tune with wisdom and think what it means to have common sense. Beg as loud as you can for good common sense. Search for wisdom as you would search for silver or hidden treasure. Then you will understand what it means to respect and to know the Lord God. (Proverbs 2:1-5 CEV)

Following begins with treasuring - what we value enough, we begin to pursue.  I believe God created us to give first, save second, and then to be able to live on the rest.  At regular intervals, I re-evaluate where I am with these three principles.  Am I maintaining a giving practice that reflects not only what I can "comfortably" give, but what I know God has called me to give?  Am I learning to give of my finances, time, energies, talents, and the like - or am I withholding / resisting in one or more of these areas?  Am I consistently putting a little away for those unexpected expenses, emergencies, and the future needs of my household? Am I living within my means, or constantly extending my "means" by using credit?  These are questions which help me to clarify what I know to see if I am putting the right value on what I know so it influences what I am doing with what it is I have been given in life.  We learn to treasure God's teachings and instructions when we first place our trust in them as truth, then lean into practicing them until we come to value them as the standard by which we should conduct ourselves with consistency.

Common sense if practical wisdom - we don't walk on wobbly bridges because we know their structure will eventually find a breaking point and we don't want to be there when it does! Wisdom is the application of knowledge - whether we gain it through study or common sense decisions.  When we apply what we know, we are learning to trust truth. Common sense is sometimes quite underestimated for value or worth in our lives - thinking instead that we need some "word from heaven" or "deeper spiritual truth" in order to make some of the decisions in life we are faced with.  The "truth" is that God gave each of us something called "conscience" to help guide our common sense and he gave us the capacity to learn so that we could develop common sense.  The first time I burnt myself on some hot object didn't require me to repeatedly put my finger back on that object to see if what I was experiencing in the way of the scorching pain radiating through my finger was "real" or "reliable".  I simply trust that each time something is hot, it has the potential of burning me!

There are times I think we avoid what we don't trust and we don't trust something because we either don't listen to the "niggling" of our common sense, or we are just too lazy to test it out to see if it is truth and reliable.  This is often the case when God asks us to do something, especially as it comes to exploring what he has said in scripture.  It isn't that we don't trust that God's Word is real and reliable - it is that we don't trust we will be able to "get it" or understand what it contains, so we just ignore the study of it because we think it is too hard and we will never be able to "get it".  If we approach the study of God's Word simply with our common sense guiding us, we learn there are lots of things within the pages of scripture which will ring true and become guidance for our lives.  We don't need some super-spiritual knowledge in order to "get it" - it is based on good common sense.  Maybe this is why our writer tells us to beg for good common sense!  It is the beginning of wisdom in our lives to use the common sense we are given to explore the deeper truths we will come to appreciate as "deeper wisdom" later on in our lives.

My daughter tells me she went to the doctor a week or so ago, stepped on the scale as we all are required to do, then heard the girl tell her she weighed about ten pounds more than what she believed to be her true weight.  Now, common sense would say, "Please reweigh me - I don't think that is correct because my scale says something else."  Common sense would look at the little sliding counter weights on the scale and see they weren't fully engaged in the little slots created for them.  Common sense wouldn't just accept the heavier weight and walk away believing it could not be challenged.  Sometimes common sense causes us to "challenge" things which others believe to be true - because of common sense, we see the stated facts just don't add up.  It is never wrong to question something which doesn't lend itself to the test of "good common sense".  It IS wrong to rely solely upon what we hear or see without putting it to the test.  While common sense may be a good place to BEGIN our determination of whether something is reliable, truthful, sound, etc., it is not the end all. I think the term "COMMON sense" should give us a little hint there!

What comes to be trusted as "common" knowledge may not always be truth.  We always need to balance common knowledge with the deeper truths discovered because we have a deep and intimate relationship with the one who is ALL truth.  In so doing, we may just discover what we have common to trust as "common" may not be all that trustworthy.  A stove isn't always hot - is it?  A bridge isn't always wobbly - is it?  A frozen lake isn't always frozen solid - is it?  What we see and what we come to trust as truth are two entirely different things.  We need to "marry" common sense (the ability to figure things out in the power and reasoning of our own minds based on the knowledge we have developed) and the wisdom God gives which guides our responses in life.  Maybe what we learn through the power of reasoning and listening to the tiny "niggling" in our gut is "common", but when we see into the depths of a man's heart and begin to speak healing into the damaged places therein, this is wisdom and wisdom is love.  God is all about us learning his love - and his love is revealed first in the person of his Son and in the words we have been left with to guide us in our walk!  Just sayin!

Signs of life

Advice:  Something offered as a guide for action or conduct; an official notification.  There are times when I have received advice which has really benefited me in a positive manner.  I think of a previous leader I served with who guided me into investing my retirement funds in a way which was not only diversified, but helped me grow my funds a little quicker since I had some catching up to do.  This was advice which actually assisted me in a very positive manner.  I have also followed some not so great advice, purchasing some things I wish I had not simply because it was the latest trend and someone "swore" it would make all the difference to own it!  Now, let me just assure you, there are some things which have benefited my life, while there are others which were just pure flops.  Everyone talked about the battery driven can opener you place on the top of the can and turn on - but did anyone consider how long the batteries would last and how frequently it would run down?  I don't think so!  I have two of these devices since mom had one when she moved in with me. Guess what I use to open cans...a good old-fashioned crank can opener!  I got on the bandwagon with everyone else and asked for one of those really expensive coffee brewers which makes only one cup at a time - you know which one I mean.  Then I realized the cost of coffee packaged this way and had to find a suitable "refillable" device to house my own coffee grinds to keep the cost of coffee down to a manageable sum!  Now that it has given up the ghost, I am not looking to replace it with another of this type - I am going back to my simple four-cup brewer.  It might not be as "trendy", but it certainly gets the job done in a pretty efficient manner!   Sometimes we don't always heed the "best" advice, but hop quickly to embrace advice which is more or less "trendy". We can see it is not always the best advice!

We are rewarded or punished for what we say and do. Fools think they know what is best, but a sensible person listens to advice. (Proverbs 12:14-15 CEV)

We are rewarded or punished for what we say and do - if we heed bad advice, what is our reward?  I don't think of it as punishment, but as the consequences of not taking time to really consider our steps.  Reward is not always positive! It can carry a little bit of a consequence to it, making it more like a punishment than a reward.  Yesterday I pulled up my first carrot from the garden.  It was about 3 inches long.  I washed it complete with the carrot leaves still on it and presented it to mom.  She said it was sweet and quite excellent in taste.  It took a pretty long while for them to go from carrot tops to something growing beneath the surface!  I have been plucking up a little carrot green about once a month for a couple of months to keep tabs on how they are growing.  I didn't expect anything quite as lovely when I plucked this one, but was rewarded with a nice wee carrot!  Sometimes our actions are just like that - we look for growth but don't always see it.  We don't pluck up all the promising signs of growth to discover this - we just pluck one single carrot!  In our lives, we may not see immediate reward for each and every promising sign of growth in our lives, but we can "track" the growth if we consider where we are over the course of time. We might not be fully developed in a particular area, but if we continue to cultivate and nourish that area of our life, we will eventually be rewarded with the growth beneath the surface.

A sensible person listens to advice - this is having the keen awareness and judgment which actually keeps us from making totally wrong decisions all the time. It doesn't mean we "never" operate in the realm of silliness and take an occasional unwise step, but it refers to more of the idea of leaving some things alone once we get any idea they are not really the right thing for us to be pursuing.  Advice may come in the form of a warning - if heeded, we can turn away before we launch fully into something.  It may come in the form of plain old common sense - like when I didn't pluck up all the carrot tops when I didn't see growth under the first one!  I know it takes time for these things to mature. Now imagine what life would be like if we examined our own lives in this way. We look to see what is beneath the surface, but if we don't see growth immediately and then just start all over again we might be labeled as being a little "flighty".  Last year I planted some sweet potato vine and elephant ear vine in the same bed.  We had a really bad frost which took rather hearty growth and destroyed it overnight.  I left it there, though, knowing when the frosts passed, I would re-cultivate the bed and try again.  As I pulled back those dead vines, I discovered some small sweet potatoes beneath the surface!  Who knew those were there?  Not me!  So, I left them there and have waited to see what would happen.  I am pleased to say there is life emerging! 

What we might think we need is continual "advice" on how to live or make the decisions we have to make.  What we fail to recognize is the wisdom and sense God has built into our lives to know "growth" comes where we see any and all potential for growth!  Those carrot tops promise carrots beneath the surface. The wee sweet potatoes promise the evidence of another round of vining plants this season.  That spark of hope promises a developing sense of peace and freedom in your life where only darkness and frustration has been evident before.  We might not always receive "advice" - sometimes we just need to lay hold of the truth we already possess and act upon it.  That can be the difference between the fool and the wise!  Just sayin!

My backside isn't defended very well

We have a group of people in our lives who worry about everything, don't we?  They find some disaster far, far away - totally removed from them - and worry about how it will affect them or those they love.  I was driving home the other day and caught just a little of the newscast revealing the last Ebola patient has gone home from the hospital in Liberia. Another 40 plus days and they will be declared to be Ebola free in that nation.  Then came the report of the next possible places for outbreaks, all based on their poor healthcare system and lack of sanitation in their countries.  The moment of celebration was absolutely lost when the next few seconds were dedicated to painting the ugliness of potential outbreak.  It was like saying all the hard work to eradicate it in Liberia was good, but those who are not as far along in their prevention methods will be next.  I don't think the intended purpose was to keep people from traveling, but if you are at all inclined to get a little paranoid about the possibility of contracting disease, it would certainly put a damper on your desires!  You might not ever venture out again, especially if you let your imagination carry you away into the places fear can let you go!  Herein is the dilemma each of us face every day.  We have all kinds of input into our sensory system - sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even taste.  What we choose to do with that input is entirely up to us.  We can let it in, give it a place to dwell and take root, or we can reject it as something not particularly worthy of our attention.  This is where common sense and sound judgment begin to play an important part in what we entertain in our minds, how these things will be allowed to affect us, and what we do with them once they attempt to get an inroad.  We don't need "words from on high" to tell us to avoid these things which just don't do us any good, or will steer us down a wrong path. We just need to use the common sense and good judgment God has already given us!

My child, use common sense and sound judgment! Always keep them in mind.  They will help you to live a long and beautiful life. You will walk safely and never stumble; you will rest without a worry and sleep soundly. So don’t be afraid of sudden disasters or storms that strike those who are evil. You can be sure that the Lord will protect you from harm. (Proverbs 3:21-26 CEV)

Look at the passage again - common sense and sound judgment are to be "kept in mind" - meaning their influence is mostly upon our mind.  They influence what it is we do with thought - which ultimately will effect our actions, but they are used most commonly in our thought life.  Look at the influence they can have over our thought life.  The use of common sense and sound judgment can actually help us live a long and beautiful life, not to mention helps us sleep without worry, and walk without stumbling.  Now, that is a pretty good enough reason for me to want to use both of these things in my "filtering" of what it is I let into my senses!  I don't want to stumble and I certainly value a good night's sleep. It doesn't end there - they actually give us a basis to stand upon to reject those things which would make us want to become fearful and caught up in the anxiety of life's unknowns.  

All along throughout the first couple of chapters of Proverbs, Solomon has reminded us of the importance of allowing God's Word to create a sense of direction for our lives.  We know this comes through the influence of the Spirit of God who indwells us. Whenever I think of the things God has given us to assist us in our daily walk, I like to divide them into two parts. The first are those things which help to defend us from attack, and the second are those things which we can actually use to be on the offensive (proactive) in our lives.  We need both, because one without the other actually leaves us a little "open for attack".  For example, we can have a whole lot of defensive techniques or tactics, but if we don't ever do anything proactively to stem off the attacks, we will always be in the midst of the attacks!

This is often were sound judgment and common sense come into play.  When we are prone to some particular habit, such as excessive drinking or eating, the last thing we need to do is constantly visit the bars or restaurants!  We are not exercising sound judgment when we keep putting ourselves in the places where our habits are actually nurtured!  It is no different than fighting off a hugely devastating disease such as Ebola.  In order to eradicate it, certain consistent techniques have to be employed.  Some are defensive - such as the use of the right medical treatment to cure those infected.  Others are offensive - such as teaching healthcare workers, communities, and entire countries how to avoid the spread.  One compliments the other just as common sense and sound judgment compliment each other.

When you look at the armor of a soldier, you might be surprised to see his "coverage" is really on the front side of his body.  The Kevlar vest only really covers his chest.  The helmet only covers his head.  The rest of the body is kind of exposed!  Sure, he has a rifle, pistol, knife, and maybe a few other weapons, but in general there are a whole lot of other exposed areas in his armor.  How does he protect those areas?  He has to be on the offensive as much as he can in order to be ready when he needs to be defending himself in combat! The same is true when it comes to the spiritual and emotional attacks we are under each and every day.  We need to be fully "armored", but we also need to be able to show some offensive tactics, as well.  Just sayin!

You using your God-sense?

There are people in this world who believe that selfishness motivates people to do things - that it is because of their own self-interest ALONE that people seek to do good deeds.  Let me assure you, there are probably more than a few individuals like this, but once someone invites Christ into their lives, it is almost impossible to live that way any longer.  A cynic is usually someone we might refer to as pessimistic or skeptical.  They just have to believe every action has some underlying "ulterior motive".  As we come INTO Christ, the "motivations" of our life begin to change - moving from being a little too self-centered to being "other-centered".  The result of becoming more Christ-centered is that we also become more and more "other-centered".  This is a good thing since our ego gets us into more scrapes than we might like to deal with in this life!  While we are egocentric, we also have a pretty immature grasp on what others may see as wisdom.  Wisdom is only truly found when we are able to embrace it and as long as we are embracing everything which pleases self, we will not be able to open our arms to embrace wisdom.

Cynics look high and low for wisdom—and never find it; the open-minded find it right on their doorstep! (Proverbs 14:6 MSG)

Egocentric individuals have little regard for the beliefs or interests of others. They often appear quite self-absorbed.  As long as we are so "self-absorbed", we have little to no room to absorb anything else!  It is like being a saturated sponge - you can try to make the sponge hold more water, but it just has no more capacity!  Perhaps this is why when they seek wisdom they have such a hard time holding onto it!  It may not be that they don't encounter wise principles and practices in this lifetime, but they just don't 'absorb' them. 

We are all created equally, so this means all of us have a tendency to be a little too self-absorbed on occasion.  As Christ begins to take our eyes off of ourselves, turning them fully toward him, we begin to see there is a world outside of ourselves.  At first, I think Christ needs to help us maintain our focus because we don't realize how much our focus determines the direction we will take in this life.  As we grow in our relationship with him, it becomes easier for us to recognize when that focus is turned a little off of "center".

Wisdom comes as we begin to maintain our focus on Christ.  It is as we turn our eyes away from self that we behold Christ.  No man or woman who fully beholds the magnificence of his majesty can ever walk away unchanged. Wisdom comes in the form of exchanged priorities, deeper expressions of love and caring toward others, and a little less need to have the world rotate around us.

Remember - wisdom is not only the knowledge of what is true and right, but judgment to act upon it.  This is also what makes it so hard for the cynic - their judgment is self-based.  They have no "center" outside of themselves, so every action they take is based on how they will appear, what will benefit them from the experience, etc.  The wise embrace the fact that God's work is best revealed when the transformation which has occurred within is expressed outwardly in the way we treat others, the opportunities we find to elevate another over ourselves, etc.

The cynic may act upon "common sense" in much of what he or she does. The wise act upon "God sense".  It is the enlightenment God brings which helps us to make solid decisions and to take steps forward when it seems like we don't have all the answers up front.  This said, the cynic will weigh things out to see if the cost is too great for them.  The wise will realize that all "God things" come with a cost - a little less of our self in the mix means we get the best out of the circumstance!  Just sayin!

Trail Buddies

Trails - as we travel through life, there are sure a lot to choose from, right? Have you ever chosen a trail which was just too hard for you?  You know, the one that taxed your endurance, left you aching when you finally reached the end, and just generally was way too much for you?  I have!  In real life, the trails we can pursue abound - choosing the right ones is as important as choosing the right traveling companions to "hike" those trails with you!

So now you can pick out what’s true and fair, find all the good trails!  Lady Wisdom will be your close friend, and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.  Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you.  They’ll keep you from making wrong turns, or following the bad directions of those who are lost themselves and can’t tell a trail from a tumbleweed... (Proverbs 2: 9-12 MSG)

This morning, as I look out onto the Shenandoah Mountains, I see mist covering many of the trails and a general peacefulness to the view.  What looks so serene may actually be riddled with all kinds of hazards I have no clue actually exist in those wooded areas and rocky places.  Things like black bears, snakes, and poisonous plants.  They don't seem to just jump out at you and have little signs saying, "Avoid me".  Instead they blend into the surroundings and seem to almost taunt you to allow them to catch you unaware.  This is probably why God pays such close attention to giving us the best traveling companions for life's journeys which are riddled with hazards we often don't see until we are fully upon them, or engulfed in their irritations!

Four traveling companions:  Lady Wisdom, Brother Knowledge, Good Sense, and Insight.  Let's call them the SWIK Team (Sense, Wisdom, Insight and Knowledge).  

- Lady Wisdom:  I have told you before, wisdom is more than knowledge - it is the knowledge of what is good and true, but it is also the just judgment to use it as you need it.  It doesn't take much wisdom to look upon a black bear, hungry and intent on feeding, to avoid it!  On the other hand, to see a little squirrel who skitters to you for a few nuts doesn't seem that ominous, right? But...even "cute" squirrels carry deadly diseases!  The importance of Lady Wisdom being along on our journey is for us to know what to do with the input the other traveling companions actually give us along the way.

- Brother Knowledge:  Nothing escapes us more than acquiring ALL the knowledge on a subject.  Whenever we think we have, we are only deceiving ourselves, as knowledge is an ever-increasing, ever-developing thing.  This companion along our journey is there to bring us awareness of the facts, truths, and principles we might discover.  What we do with those is the direct result of how well we listen to Lady Wisdom!  Brother Knowledge is our teacher - Lady Wisdom is our counselor.  

- Good Sense:  Some call this sound, practical judgment.  William Temple, the last Archbishop of Canterbury, once said, "The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit." Considering this a little closer, I think he was onto something there.  Most of the "hazards" we come across in life are often a result of our very own words, are they not?  We come smack-dab into the path of some pretty ominous situations just because the words we have chosen led us down those paths. As Temple stated, the value of the conversation (the words) is not just in the speaking of them - it is in the closeness they maintain to the truth, the evidence they reveal of sound / practical judgment, and the delight of being able to laugh at oneself in the process.  Not every conversation we engage in is as well planned as we'd like, but maybe if we had these traveling companions along on the journey down that path, they might be!

- Insight:  This is the ability to apprehend the true nature of a matter - some call this being intuitive.  In this instance, I think our traveling companion known as Insight is really the ability to make rapid and direct connection with truth and fact.  The idea is of immediate apprehension.  Most of us apprehend the facts, but it takes a little while, right?  When Insight is our traveling companion, we have a much better chance of getting things the first time, instead of having to hear it over and over again!

These are just a few of the companions we can choose to take on the trails we pursue in life.  We determine our companions in the journey.  The journey may not be totally under our control, but who we take with us is!  Just sayin!