Get Wisdom

I was homeschooled from third grade on and this verse has always stuck with me. You see, I had a Bible lesson on Solomon asking for wisdom and how the Lord praised him for not asking for wealth or popularity. (2 Chronicles 1) That really impressed on me and I remember when I was still very young asking the Lord for wisdom.

For me to get wisdom I had to do a lot of unwise things to understand it; and so did Solomon. Looking back, I can see the Lord's hand on me through all of it, for a lot worse things could have happened to me than what did. Those years I walked not in step with the Lord, but away from Him, I know He was fulfilling 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. The Lord surely had a plan for my life.

Because of all the stuff I had to go through and the heartache that ensued, I met my husband, whom I treasure. I was firmly planted in a wonderful church with a wonderful church family. I moved to a quiet community where there are many Christians whom I can find support when life gets hard. I have three boys who are not growing up with the pressure I had to grow up with (believe me, they have their own, but it's so different here than where I grew up). I wouldn't trade this life for anything else, even though I am not doing anything near what I planned to do ith my life.

Dr. Robert Jeffress defines wisdom as this: "Wisdom is the ability to live according to God's pattern in all areas of life." What a great explanation. When we make the choice to submit to God's leading, in the same way that the horse submits to our leading, we live with an inner peace that the world craves. The horse does as well. A horse completely surrendered and submitted to its rider's leadership is a horse that is calm, confident, and useful.

I remember a time when I rode with a group of fellow horsemen that my dad got together. I was newly married and did not haul a horse back home for this ride, instead I rode a friend's horse. My dad had arranged it and the gal who he asked said that she doesn't normally let other people ride her horses because they can be flighty, but since it was a mount for me, she was okay with bringing an extra horse.

I got her saddled, did just a little bit of ground work while everyone else was still getting ready to go, and mounted up once we were ready to head out on the trail. The first part of the ride was a little rough, but I was never worried about this horse harming me, it just didn't know if it could trust me. Within the first hour the horse soon learned that everything was ok and quickly relaxed. The horse's owner was amazed at how calm and quiet the horse was, she had never seen that horse that relaxed while on a ride. I did nothing special other than give the horse guidance when needed.

You see, many times I see riders try to dictate the horse's every step they take with a tight rein and clenched legs. Or I see them rapidly grab up their horse's reins and catch them in the mouth and pull on them if they go too fast or take a step in a direction they don't want to go. The other thing I see is when a horse balks the rider starts banging on the horse's sides with their legs, or heels (which many times have spurs), or smacking them on the hind end with reins and such. Then when the horse does go, they usually go in the wrong way, so the rider then snatches up the reins and begins pulling. All of this creates anxiety in the horse which leads to run aways, bucking, rearing, and such.

Let's think about how the Lord deals with us. He gently leads us where He wants us to go, when we don't go that way, He doesn't fight with us or yank us back on the path and beat us up. He has given us free will to make our own decisions, the decision to follow His guidance, or to go our own way. We need to do the same with the horse. Sure, there are times we need to clearly steer the horse away from danger and put strong boundaries on them. God does the same for us, but you have to remember He doesn't fight with us, He simply guides us by giving us peace when we go the right way and taking that peace from us when we go our own way. This takes wisdom, both on our part, and the horse's part, to know where we are being guided and to continue in that way. Do you have that wisdom? If not ask for it. The Lord gives generously. #CornerstoneVerseOfTheDay