My 'Go To' For 'How To'

In this time of what seems like the darkness of many uncertainties, the Lord has wisdom for us. Maybe we never thought of that?

Maybe we never thought that actually God oversees all of our problems and insecurities, conflicts and confusions — and all the time He has wisdom for us if we will seek Him.

You might think: “That’s church and all the rigmarole that goes with that.” But it’s not. God is everywhere. We can stop, and turn to Him, and listen any time and anywhere.

God speaks to us — and for me, today, through this Bible verse from Isaiah:

“When the Lord who dwells on high is exalted, He will be the sure foundation of justice and righteousness for your times. He will be a rich source of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” (Isaiah 33:5–6)

The condition seems to be a willingness to recognise him and exalt Him as Almighty God. It’s like waving a Union Flag and shouting “Hurrah!” when the Queen is in procession. A republican isn’t doing that.

It also means being willing to slide back our opinions in the mix, and mute our preferences. We are so ruled by our opinions, and convinced that we are right. The key to receiving the Lord’s wisdom is being able to turn this pride off so that we can hear what He has to say.

He won’t while we are still shouting in our thoughts!

The key to gaining this heavenly perspective is how much we consider God. Maybe we don’t think about Him at all. Maybe we do sometimes. If we pause and consider — that is the beginning of worship.

That leads to recognising who God is — His goodness, His greatness, His forgiving love, His enduring truth, and His willingness to hear us and to receive us, even if we haven’t had much to do with him.

This is praising God, and it’s the beginning of a turning back to Him with regret for our independence.

As we move into that regret and see Him more clearly, we will start to find His justice and right way, His wisdom and knowledge, start to permeate our thoughts form a direction where there was confusion before.

As the verse says, “The fear of the Lord has the keys of this treasure”. For fear, read awe — it is about ascribing to Him as Creator of the world the majesty which is rightfully His.

This pause in the helterskelter of our thoughts and opinions puts us in the right place for the Lord to begin to speak his wisdom to us — and for us to hear.

Also on Medium — https://iangreig.medium.com/my-go-to-for-how-to-c4b1aaa31fa4

I’m a former church pastor now with a focus on ‘Faith without the Faff’, showing how a faith relationship with God doesn’t need all the trappings of church bureaucracy and coercive religion. I write and make videos especially for the majority (possibly 97% in the UK) who no longer attend a physical church — but haven’t given up on God.