WISDOM FROM WAY BACK WHEN

God does things His own way 

and we would be wise to follow His way of doing things; 

it may seem to someone to be a bit foolish at the time, 

but He is God. 

We may think that there is a wiser way
to do what God is doing,
but what we think about what God does
is not as important as what God actually does.

Sometimes 
what God has done makes us laugh,  sometimes cry, 
sometimes jump, sometimes fall down, 

sometimes run, sometimes stand still, 

and sometimes what God does makes us wonder 

what in the world is going on? 

The Bible is full of stories
of people wondering about what God is doing.

Adam was tickled to find Eve when he woke up,
then both giggled to find themselves alive
in such a Garden full of life.
although they wondered
why they couldn't have what they thought they wanted
rather than thinking about what God wanted them to have.

Their own "wisdom" made them act like fools;
instead of living in the Garden,
they had to leave to go out on the ground
and begin to die.

But
through their children
God began to work out a way for life to conquer death. 
First was Cain and Abel,
offering to God
the best of what their own work had produced.
Cain wondered why Abel pleased God,
then got mad when God wouldn't tell him;
after killing Abel,
Cain kept on wondering
as he wandered farther and farther away.

Civilization was built in cities full of questions Cain kept asking, 

but the answer could be found 

only in the son born after Cain was gone. 

Adam knew the third son born to Eve
would take the empty place left by Cain,
and many generations followed,
fruitfully fulfilling God's funny way of wisdom.

Noah built an Ark in the middle of the desert
just in time before the rain came
to float away to safety in his two-by-two waterproof zoo.

Abraham was very, very old, as was Sarah, the wife he loved;
both of them just had to laugh
when God promised they would have a son!

But that is just what happened,

and the laughter went on and on.

The son had sons and they had sons and their sons had sons, too.

Like grains of sand on the ground,
or stars up in the sky,
the sons and daughters that were born
became more than could be counted!

Some were good,
some were not,
but still God's promise was fulfilled
that His way of Life
would remain open
for those who would be willing
to follow faithfully.

One son of the many sons of Abraham
was David
and he became a king!
He danced in front of everybody
and sang about how wonderful was God's way.

Loving God like he did, 
David, though not perfect, 
became known, 
not just for what he did, 
but for the reason why he did it - to please God. 
The prophets all agree
that pleasing God is what counts,
come Judgment Day,
not sacrifices or services
or such silly stuff
as smoking up a room with smelly incense.

Jesus, son of David, said,
Serving God first means 
loving God 
the way 
He wants us to love Him, 
with all our heart 
and all our mind and all our strength. 

"Wisdom is proved right by all her children." 

Faithfully following God 

even when it seems foolish to follow where He leads 

- that is wisdom.