1 Kings 3:7b – I am like a small child. I don't have the wisdom I need to do what I must do. (ERV)

James 1:5 – If you do not have wisdom, ask God for it. He is always ready to give it to you and will never say you are wrong for asking. (NLV)

We had just finally found a place to rent, a former karate studio over a downtown business with a beat-up wreck of a kitchen that looked unusable. Moving in that night, I fed the children and put them to bed before retiring ourselves. Far too early the next morning, I smelled something burning. The children, aged 7, 5, and 4, working as a team, had wakened hungry and decided to make banana bread from their Winnie The Pooh Cookbook. The brains of the outfit was always the 5-year-old, who, standing on a stool, had managed to turn on the complicated, ancient oven while the dreamy 7-year-old handled ingredients, and the 4-year-old heckled. I yanked open the smoking oven door. There was a frying pan containing an unpeeled banana, and next to it, a china cup full of milk, a melting clump of butter, and two tablespoons lying side-by-side, carefully filled with sugar. As adults, they would probably have gathered up all the wisdom missing that day, but right then, it was obvious that Winnie the Pooh hadn't been writing for children!

Yet, I, too, often lack wisdom in my life, bringing what often seems only the understanding of a child to meet the complex demands that technology and adulthood require. How can I be sure that what I choose is right? Old hymns come into my mind as I face the kinks and clunkers that confront all of us in today's perilous circumstances. Someone says, All in God's time, and God don't wear no Rolex. God is not in a hurry. I need not fear the future — God is already there. Learning requires only a humble heart asking God to show us the way. Patience always hitches a ride with understanding. Just because things aren't going the way that we want doesn't mean that they aren't going as they should. Today, let's ask for the courage to accept what God has given us, as we do the daily round of prayer, meditation, and waiting on Him.

Psalm 119:144b – Give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart] that I may live. (AMP)

Prayer: O God of our faith, how grateful we are to receive Your increasing wisdom in our lives as the night deepens and tempests are wild. You have redeemed all of us who accept Your salvation, and we are Your children. We pause today to gather strength from Your living waters and fill our empty cups with Your wisdom from on high. Your mercy and grace are our grand old story to share with all who faint on the journey. With grateful hearts made whole again, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Rose DeShaw <rise370@gmail.com>
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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