Wiser and Happier: Devotions From Time of Graceናሙና

Introduction

You’ve heard the phrase “sadder but wiser,” haven’t you? Has a lot of your life wisdom come through pain? That memorable phrase comes from a mostly forgotten poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by the English writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “He went like one that hath been stunned, and is of sense forlorn: a sadder and a wiser man, he rose the morrow morn.”

Coleridge put his finger squarely on one of life’s iron rules: there are generally only two ways to learn--through words or through pain. God has certainly gotten a lot done in my own life through pain, and you can probably say the same. But he would much rather make us wiser through words. In this way we wouldn’t be sadder but wiser; we would be wiser and happier.

The Bible’s book of Proverbs is an absolute gold mine of wisdom for the daily decisions you must make. It will help you develop your personal values and tune your life’s agenda more closely to resemble God’s. Your life will inevitably be happier.

Here is a “proverbial” nugget for each day of your month. Ready? Let’s go!