In the Way of Wisdom by Heidi Dru Kortman

Text: Proverbs 4:11-19

“I guide you in the way of wisdom, and lead you along clear paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, when you run you will not stumble” (v.11-12).

            One gift God desires to give everyone is wisdom, defined as seeing life from God’s perspective. As people with mobility handicaps, we often learn more quickly than other people that total self-sufficiency is not the way the world is designed to work. Interdependence has always been part of God’s plan.

            When we ask him for wisdom, what happens? First, he steps ahead of us as guide. The paths he chooses are clear and straight. If we stay behind our guide, our lives are sure to be full of purpose and lasting satisfaction. Of course, we must also learn to see beyond our limitations, but won’t we then be wiser than average? Even if our physical hindrances annoy us daily, if we follow God’s leading, the destination we reach is our home with him.

            Few of us today will see a literal change in our lives along the lines of verse twelve. In our times of deepest frustration, we may well scream our desire for this promise in our prayers, with tears. Honestly though, even while Jesus lived here on earth, he didn’t heal every handicapped person in Judea. As did the unhealed then, we too have a specific function to fulfill for the completion of God’s amazing plans. Therefore, with our unsteady balance, spastic muscles, and arthritic joints, we will make daily progress down the path he chooses, however long it is.

            Verse 13 says that besides guiding us, God will also be our instructor. What else could he want us to learn? First, we must not surrender our wisdom for anything. Verses 14 through 17 and 19 warn us of detours we must not take. Doing evil, even provoking discord by our attitudes, is folly. Folly is taking on the devil’s perspective, which ought to fill God’s remnant with horror.

            What is the reward for building our lives on wisdom from God? “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter until the full light of day.”(Proverbs 4:18.) If we gain and keep God’s wisdom, our lives can guide others, even as we reach the place where God himself is our light and there is no more pain.

            Prayer:

            Lord, make our grip on Your gift of wisdom secure. Our fingers fumble and stab at it, as we struggle to get beyond our awe at the promise. Help us to open it, and display Your generosity in every moment we live. Amen.

Heidi Dru Kortman DTM

God's gifts and call are irrevocable.

heididrukortman.com.

Heidi Dru Kortman, a CWG Apprentice graduate, ACFW member since 2004, and Word Weaver member has published devotionals in various newsletters, and a collected volume of devotionals. Her poetry, flash fiction, and short stories have appeared in small magazines, and a website. She is applying herself to the task of writing smoothly polished fiction.

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