Stewardship III - Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge

This post has been sitting in "draft mode" for over three years. I thought I would finish and post. 

Part three of understanding stewardship is the importance of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in stewarding the sphere that God has given us. These three words are seen together often, particularly in Proverbs.

Pro 24:3 By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

This three words, Wisdom, Understanding, and knowledge have been at the center of my thinking for many years. Without them we cannot build successfully. Without them we cannot build something that will last into eternity. We need wisdom, understanding, and knowledge if we are going to be good stewards of all that God has given us. Just because I am writing about these three words and their impact on stewardship doesn't mean I understand them fully or even partially. What I do know is that if I want to build anything with a sense of permanency, have it be established, have it stand the test of time and become a place of resource and life for others I need the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that comes from God.

The Source

Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge all have their source in God. 

Proverbs 2:6 states, "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding." 

As wise stewards any attempt at faithfulness, growth, or increase in our sphere must start with a focus on the Lord and begin to know His ways.

To often we find ourselves focusing on patterns of living, thought processes, and ideas which have as their source in our culture's way of conducting business. Whether it is in our relationships, work ethic, marriage, finances, or our personal life we take our lead from what is popular or practical by our cultures standards and not by what God says is wise.

The book of Proverbs is a great book to begin reading to inform our mind. The writer of Proverbs challenges its readers, to Listen, to Hear (as in Hear my son); Wisdom is crying out (in the noisy street) asking us to pay attention to God's words and his ways. If God is the source of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge then it is important that we turn our ear and hearts in His direction.

To do this we have to put ourselves in a position to where we are listening. The thrust of Proverbs 2:6 is that the Lord is GIVING wisdom. The Lord is not holding back. There is not hesitancy or unwillingness to give wisdom, understanding or knowledge to those asking. Instead Proverbs challenge is that we not only listen, but not forget, but instead keep what God has given to us. Proverbs 3:1 says, "My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments." The Lord is the source of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. We have to listen if we are going to receive what the Lord is giving.

Skillfull Workers

When God was looking for craftsmen to work on Aaron's garments and to build the ark he gave Moses the names of specific men (it could have been women as well) whose skill sets included Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding....

Exo 28:3  "You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me. 

Exo 31:1-5  Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 

Paul's Prayer

Paul in his letter to the Colossians is that they would have spiritual wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of his will. Our walk, our ability to please the Father and our fruitfulness are dependent on us obtaining these three qualities. 

Col 1:9-12  For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. 

Where Do We Start?

Pray

Let's start by praying for these three qualities to be present in our lives. Use Colossians 1;9-12 as the basis of your prayer. 

Read

Spend time reading God's word. Also read good books that will challenge your thinking. I enjoy reading the Old Testament stories. They are filled with faith, courage, hope, failure and the grace of God. 

Renewed Your Mind

Our purpose is that we will be transformed through a renewed mind. So that we can approve God's will in a broken world. A will that is Good, Acceptable and Perfect. 

Daniel our Example

Daniel and his friends succeeded in a pagan land because God endowed them with Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. They didn't bow to the pressures of the country they lived and neither were they hampered by previous rituals which could no longer be fulfilled. They were light and salt in Babylon, filled with Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. They stood out and proved that God's will was Good, Acceptable and Perfect. 

How Long?

One of the hardest things for me to do is wait. I don't know about you, but I don't like to wait. It is not that I am overly action orientated, it is just that when I think something is over, I want to move on. To be honest with you, I don't like waiting for others. I tend to give myself all the time that I need, but when it comes to giving others the same courtesy, I seem to come up short. Grace for me, from me; and hurry up for you, from me. Sounds great, until of course we get to God. 

Waiting on God and for God is hard. You can't manipulate him or control him. You have to wait for him. You can't adjust the timing to fit your schedule. It seems liking planning works up to a point, then you find yourself waiting and wondering. 

One of the questions you read often from the OT writers is How Long?. Read David's words from Psalm 13:1-6; 

 "How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me."

This is just one example. You could find more. Below is just a sample from the Psalms

•  Psa_35:17  Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions. 
• Psa_62:3  How long will you assail a man, That you may murder him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? 
• Psa_74:9  We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there any among us who knows how long. 
• Psa_74:10  How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever? 
• Psa_79:5  How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? 
• Psa_80:4  O LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people? 
• Psa_82:2  How long will you judge unjustly And show partiality to the wicked? Selah. 
• Psa_89:46  How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? 
• Psa_90:13  Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. 
• Psa_94:3  How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult? 

I think you get the idea. I like what one author said about the Psalms. God has provided us with his words that we can say back to him. How Long was part of the Psalmist prayers. It was part of the great prophets prayers. It was God giving us words to talk back to him with.

Waiting is hard work. Maintaining our hope and confidence while we wait is hard work. David at the end of Psalm 25: 20-21 says: 

"Guard my soul and deliver me; Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You."

David asked that integrity and uprightness, while he was waiting. would preserve him. Isn't that part of the test during waiting? Isn't the temptation during waiting to take matters into our own hands? To circumvent integrity and uprightness for expediency? The OT is full of stories of those who instead of waiting, instead of letting integrity and uprightness preserve them (maybe this was Jesus idea of the narrow way) found a short cut, one that cost them integrity or uprightness. 

Of course, most of these Psalms start out by asking how long and end up in thankfulness around the goodness God. That is how Psalm 13 ends. The word "But" at the beginning of verse 5 transitions away from David's concerns to who God is. 

Even though it seems appropriate to ask How Long, it also seems appropriate not to stay there, but to move on like most, if not all of the Psalms do, to the goodness and faithfulness of a trustworthy God.

Of course, these are Just My Thoughts.....

Integrity - The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality. - Chapter 1

I am currently reading Dr. Henry Cloud's book, Integrity, the courage to meet the demands of reality. I thought I would review each chapter. I liked the title and approach of this book. It reminds me of Charles Simpsons message on Internal Integrity and External Integration. Follow along or by the book.

Dr. Henry Cloud’s Book – Integrity, the courage to meet the demands of reality.

Chapter 1

Dr. Cloud starts off in his book by sharing his journey into why he was writing this book. He wants to make it clear that when talking about integrity, people typically move into a conversation about moral issues such as honesty or ethics. But when he is talking about integrity he is going beyond just morals or ethics into character. He wants to make it clear that having integrity or character is not developed so that you “don’t get into trouble” but that, “who a person is” will ultimately determine if their brains, talents, competencies, energy, effort, deal-making abilities and opportunities will succeed. It is character and integrity that make you productive and successful.

DC states that to be successful you need three ingredients:

1.     You have to have some set of competencies in your field

2.     You have to have the ability to build alliances with others that is mutually beneficial.

3.     The have to have the character so that they do not screw up.

DC’s focus is on Character.

He asks the question:

“How many of you have had a situation in your work experience where someone was very bright, talented, competent, and good working deals, but there was something about who he or she was as a person that somehow got in the way of all of that ability?”

“How many of you can also relate to there being some way in which you feel like if you were different in some way, that you could go further than you have or reach the full potential that your brains, talents, and competencies would allow?”

DC is trying to differentiate between a person with good character, morals, ethics, honesty, trustworthiness (he doesn’t minimize this) and what he calls their “personhood” - Who they are as a whole person. I think this is an important distinction. It is the difference between a character that keeps you out of trouble versus one that when others are working with you and for you, you are able to be productive and meet your goals.

Here is the center of what DC is trying to convey. People who are blind to the shortcomings of their “personhood” will not see the need to develop their skills and abilities. Thus they will not be able to do the following:

1.     Gain the complete trust of the people they were leading, and capture their full hearts and following.

2.     See all of the realities that are right in front of them. They had blind spots regarding themselves, others, or even the markets, customers, projects opportunities, or other external realities that kept them from reaching their goals.

3.     Work in a way that actually produced the outcomes that they should have produced, given their abilities and resources.

4.     Deal with problem people, negative situations, obstacles, failures, setbacks, and losses.

5.     Create growth in their organization, their people, themselves, their profits, or their industry.

6.     Transcend their own interests and give themselves to larger purposes, thus becoming part of a larger mission.

From this DC states that the issues he outlines above have nothing to do with a person’s IQ, talents, brains, education…. Instead they have to do with aspects of a person’s character that is given too little attention and never seen as important enough to develop.

DC states, “The most important tool ultimately is the person and his or her makeup, and yet it seems to get the least amount of attention and work.”

DC is making the argument that it is a person’s character or personal make-up that has more to do with someone’s ultimate ability than we have been recognized.

He believes when we focus on the person as a whole the following three pitfalls can be avoided:

1.     Hitting a performance ceiling that is much lower than one’s aptitude.

2.     Hitting an obstacle or situation that derails you

3.     Reaching great success only to self-destruct and lose it all.