Do We Think We Need God's Advice? (RGA1)

UBIQUITOUS
It's everywhere. I'm not talking about oxygen, the constant presidential election updates, or Britney Spears sightings. Advice. Advice is everywhere. Oprah, pundits, bloggers, parents, pastors- everyone is happy to tell us how to live our lives. What we need isn't more advice, but really good advice. Now, where to find it?
LIKE DARK CHOCOLATE
Researchers recently announced that dark chocolate is good for you. Something about antioxidants that lower high blood pressure. Works for me. Always one to follow doc's orders, I ate some the other night. Trying to choose between two packages, I checked the % of cocoa in the chocolate. A higher concentration is darker (and healthier?). Wisdom works the same way. Although we find good advice in lots of places, God has concentrated a high % of wisdom in the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Why? Because the PRIMARY AUTHOR (Solomon) ASKED GOD FOR IT.

GRAB IT, GET IT, LIVE IT
As the beneficiary of so much insight, Solomon decides to pass it on. But in the vein of truth telling, he tells us that wisdom isn't just about gathering knowledge or regurgitating information. Really good advice is MEANT TO BE USED. Comprehension doesn't equal wisdom. Action does. Wisdom is meant to leak out in our walking around lives. Or we haven't grasped it at all. Not that this is easy. Note Solomon's language about the "discipline of wise behavior".

BE HONEST FOR A SEC
Bully for God that he's willing to pass on good advice, but a question lingers in my mind.

Do we really think we NEED God's advice?

The truthful answer for me is no. I appreciate God's wisdom. I love that it is available to me. I like knowing where to find it. But my life reveals that I don't think I need it. Most days I can (and do) take or leave it. And unless you scour the scriptures daily- you probably can too. Asking if we think we need God's wisdom probably prompts a couple of gut-level responses.

I CAN FIGURE IT OUT FOR MYSELF
Most of us would concede that God knows more about most things than we do- except when it comes to our lives. God knows best for the universe, but WE KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR US. Or at least we can figure it out. God did give most of us functioning brains after all, right? In a sense we're right about this, but the key to figuring life out is learning to ask advice. None of us knows everything. To think we do reveals our STUPIDITY. The real reason I can't figure everything out for myself is that wisdom doesn't start with me- or any other human. WISDOM BEGINS WITH GOD. (Remember, Solomon experienced this personally.)

I CAN JUST MAKE IT UP AS I GO
I've done a bit of driving in my new city lately. I usually have a pretty strong sense of direction, but I've come to appreciate my wife's GPS unit. (Thanks for the loan Jen.) Without fail, it has brought me to the destinations I have hoped for. At times I've doubted it, wanting to follow my internal compass instead. Each time I've been wrong. My own sense of direction hasn't always taken me to the destinations I've really wanted to go. Not in my car. Not in my life. Solomon knew THIS. Although spontaneity is a beautiful thing, and our instincts sometimes prove right- they aren't foolproof. Our hearts, souls, relationships and futures are far too valuable to just trust to chance, cultural trends, or the body chemicals that swing our emotions. We need better advice than that.

TOE IN THE WATER
So how do we begin receiving God's wisdom? With an acknowledgment that WE NEED IT. And a willingness to try it for ourselves. How else can we begin to trust God- unless we listen to and try His advice for ourselves? Trust has to be earned, right? So here's a suggestion. (Call it a challenge if it is more likely to make you participate. Not "chicken" are you?) Start reading a chapter from the book of Proverbs each day. Since Proverbs is topical, you don't need to start at the beginning or know much about the Bible at all. Just read the chapter that corresponds with the day of the month. Start ingesting wisdom and see where it leaks out in your daily life.