“Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.” Prv. 1:5
Solomon, son of King David and Bathsheba, and author of Proverbs has quite a lot to share with us … if we will chose to listen. The wisest man ever to live, raised by a deeply flawed father (but of whom God describes as “a man after my own heart”), could have asked for anything he desired from God and chose to ask for WISDOM, but nonetheless succumbed to the very sins he now warns us against. This man of authority, both worldly and spiritually, addresses us from transparent personal experience. We are wise to listen and assimilate his advice into our lives. (For a quick back ground on this dude, check out 1 Sam. 12:24; 1Chr. 2-10; 2Chr. 1:11-12; Deut.17:16-20; and 1Kings 11:4).
Solomon’s recorded words are extracted from a personal life filled of contrasts. And who better to have taught Solomon in addition to God and his own experiences? DAD. From to David’s successful war crusades, to living in caves as he hid from murderous King Saul, to his palatial life in Jerusalem, David lead a life full of both physical and spiritual contrasts. One cool thing we continue to learn from David’s example is that despite changes in his physical and spiritual environment is that his heart remained supple in God’s hands until his dying breath.
This same theme of ‘contrasts and dependence’ upon God has been rather profound in our lives these last 2 weeks as we’ve ventured from 2 cabins on a lake at 11,000ft. in Colorado to the Palazzo Hotel on the Vegas strip. ~Simplicity, peaceful solitude and grandeur to…well…the Las Vegas strip. Yet despite the difference in temperature (figuratively and literally), one theme remained the same: “listen, add to your learning and get guidance from the Master Creator Himself despite our surroundings”. (~And our peaceful state actually continued as we hung out by the oasis pool and found that if we entered the hotel on the 2nd floor we missed all the ching-chinging and got ourselves great free massages at the Brookstone store. ;-))
In Vegas we were tested with obvious “Vegas stuff”, but back in Colorado, despite the peace and grandeur of our surroundings and an extended family that is incredible and very loving, we dealt with the very real interpersonal dynamics of A LOT of family living in tight quarters. (And in a family where most individuals are “chiefs”, living in tight conditions can be tricky and sometimes feel like navigating a mine field in a foreign land!) It’s in these times of interpersonal relationship that Shaun and I become UTTERLY dependent on God’s guidance. ~And sadly, shame on us for not being “this” reliant 24X7x365.
There is no doubt: we ALL have “a dark side”, whether or not it’s “expressed outwardly”. Iniquities modeled for us in our childhood are often the same sad iniquities we continue to discover in our own humanness. ~~The cool thing is that S&B are learning to much more readily identify our own personal “ET” behaviors, and call them out by name. (We give them acronym names to better help us readily recognize them without insulting one another, thus making matters worse.) ~~Although we’ve been married a while now, and one would think we should have this rubbish “wired”, both of us continue to discover new manipulative/selfish ways that reside within our own personal flesh nature! But the beautiful thing is, God is doing some amazing things in us as we call these ugly areas out for what they are, ask for forgiveness and for the strength to do better next time.
What’s equally encouraging to us is that from Solomon’s and David’s writings we learn that these men struggled with the same kinds of stuff. Even better, they’ve recorded their struggles, insights, and practical applications for us to learn from! On printed pages both men share their hearts transparently and actually plead with us to learn from their experiences. Shaun and I pray that our own hearts will remain supple in God’s hands until our dying day. We pray yours will too!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
