#WISDOMSample

Teamwork

It’s always easier to get things done in teams.

There are people who are fiercely independent who hate teamwork, mainly because they end up taking on the majority of the work. But when you’re on a team that’s balanced and healthy, there’s nothing like it. You may have one superstar, but even then everyone is working together to help each other give their best gifts.

Wisdom does not work alone. Wisdom works in a team.

Proverbs 3 starts out by introducing us to three teammates to wisdom – love, faithfulness, and trust. Why does wisdom need help?

Love – wisdom without love isn’t helpful. It’s a lot of instruction without the compassion, the relationship, and even the mild sense of interest in another person or persons that make it really sing.

Wisdom without love is like having a set of instructions to put together furniture, but lacking the pieces of the furniture itself.

Love gives wisdom a playground in which to play – because honestly if we have no love for God, why would we listen to His wisdom?

If we don’t have love for other people, why would we make selflessly wise decisions that benefit someone else first and foremost?

Faithfulness – wisdom is a marathon, not a sprint. Wisdom isn’t going to get us a reality show or make a huge splash in the news. Wisdom is that quiet plugging along, doing the right thing by God’s design, and in small ways, we change the world.

It’s a project we have to stick to, however. Wisdom can be frustrating if we expect immediate results, so we have to get ready for the long haul.

Trust – without trust, wisdom has no muscle. If we don’t have at least a growing trust in God, it’s going to be very difficult to invest the energy and risk it requires to follow His teaching.

Proverbs says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The idea is that God’s wisdom and understanding will clear out the brush, and run a tractor over the ground and flatten everything. He’ll pave a road, paint lines on it, and mark it out.

However, it takes trust for us to get on that road and drive.

What do you need to pair wisdom with today? Love? Faithfulness? Trust? Keep these in mind as you think about the guidance in Proverbs 3.