I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment, That I may enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures.
—Proverbs 8:20-21 DRA
Wisdom makes us rich. Or, as the old school says, a hard head means a soft behind.
Don’t be like I have been. Don’t let a brick house or a piano have to fall on you before you catch the wisdom that the Spirit and Proverbs are putting out for you in your own life.
In 1998 (yep, over 20 years ago), God gave me a vision of working from home, on my computer. Back when email was just for work and social media wasn’t born (listserves, anybody?). Instead of staying with the cutting edge of technology consistently and building my message and gift from there, I went conventional and worked in offices. Sure, my “day job” moved to online eventually, but it was not quite what the Holy Spirit had in mind.
I had a ministry longing, a dream drive. How many years might I have avoided that stress and pain if I had just used WISDOM and worked the steps to get to where I needed to be? Ugh!
The sad thing is, I know I’m not alone! Many of you are in successful careers already. Some may have already retired from one job and are doing well again in another field. But still, there is a sense that there is more to do. More to offer. Something more fulfilling to you. More of your uniqueness, talents, and gifts to put out into the world.
- Perhaps it’s that business you have wanted to start for ages?
- Is it that ministry need you see in your community that has gone unaddressed?
- What nonprofit organization responds to that passion for helping that you have? Do you need to find it… or create it?
The thing that pushes you to create this is a sense of greater enrichment and fulfillment in your life.
The thing that pulls you back to where you are is a sense that you won’t make or have enough money, enough clients, enough audience to get it done.
Using good judgment, sound decision-making, and spiritual clarity to guide what we do (and don’t do) is crucial. Teaching goes beyond information-sharing. As one whose primary spiritual gifts is teaching, I know that my personal goal and that for others is to impart wisdom. Wisdom includes using good judgment and sound decision-making in terms of our actions.
To enrich means to supply in abundance what is valuable and desirable. As a teacher, I can certainly share all that I’ve learned over the past twenty years as a tri-vocational entrepreneur to help you avoid some of the pain that comes with doing everything the hard way. But it’s far more valuable and desirable for those with a heart for Christ to do things God’s way, not the easy way. Who knows? Perhaps my hard-head-soft-behind experiences were by design—just to help someone else, like you, avoid these.
Take a look at the passage, and consider those dreams that God has put on your heart to have a bigger impact and to help more people.
- Where in your life do you see a path of justice and righteousness before you?
- How can you best use your gifts to supply in abundance what is valuable and desirable to people in need?
- What personal treasures of yours might be filled by the Lord if you were fully living, working, and giving from your gifts?
- How might God use YOU to help fill the treasures of others?
