Last November, Frank, Dad and I spent Thanksgiving with my sister, niece and their families. As we were there a few days, we spent some time sightseeing and climbing the Fremont Butte. My sister lives on a ranch in the middle of Colorado's panhandle: this is part of the heartland of America, where wheat and oats grow and cattle pasture. Mostly, the land is flat and seriously, this is country where the "deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day."
Some distance from her ranch is the Fremont Butte. For a leisurely field trip, my niece, her three children, my brother-in-law, Frank and I drove out to the butte. From the picture, you can see the access to the top of the butte is a gradual uphill climb...something even I could do! When you get to the top of the butte, the vista is stunning. You can see all of Washington County, my sister & brother-in-law's ranch and lots, and lots, and lots of fields lying dormant until time for planting in the Spring.
At some point, the idea to climb around the butte was acted upon. The men and the kids had already scampered, climbed and crawled a third of the way around the butte before my niece and I decided to join them. What was a leisurely adventure had turned into actual physical exertion and moi was none too pleased. At one point, the momma in my niece responded to the helpless cry of one of her babies and she was gone to give aid. And, just like that, I was left alone to traverse the side of the butte as best I could. In my mind, I was Tom Cruise hanging from my fingertips, dangling over a sheer drop of millions of feet where certain death awaited me. In reality, I was out of shape, winded and torn between going high or staying low in sandy, shifting pebbles where my footing was uncertain and scooting along on my rear-end seemed the more natural way God had intended for me to move.
The sky was a deep azure blue! The view was amazing! The temperature was a moderate 58 degrees with a mild breeze! And I? I was grumbling, scratched up and certain death was imminent (okay, maybe not that drastic...but I was alone and feeling sorta helpless...wondering where was my momma to cry to for certain aid?).
"Want some help?" came the beautiful sound of Frank's voice! Abandoning all the snarky replies I could've come up with, I said, not too nicely,"Yes!"
Frank came back to where I was (sadly, still only a quarter of the way around the butte), and began to guide me to sure footing and solid ground. "Put your foot here, against this brush. It will hold your weight so you can put your other foot here." "I'm sure. I was just standing there. It will hold you." "No, don't go that way, you'll get stuck." And, sometimes like a parent talking to a child, "Look at me. Look here. This is where you will climb to next."
Frank knows me. Frank knows how stubborn I can be. Frank calmly, gently, firmly and patiently, endured my whining, complaining and alternative suggestions to his certain, experiential advice. At some point along the way, I recall him saying, "Just trust me." And, I did (and obviously survived, as I sit here in relatively good health writing this blog).
There are two ways to go through life.
The easy way.
And, the hard way.
The easy way is via wisdom: learning from others' experiences and sometimes, mistakes.
The hard way is ignoring the experience of those who have gone before you and blazing your own trail (which, in reality, isn't a unique new trail at all).
Pride says, "I have to do this my way. Maybe I'm the one who just has to learn the hard way!?"
Wisdom knows you. Wisdom knows you need her desperately. Wisdom is very familiar with every aspect of your life.
Wisdom cries out to you and me, "Trust me."
Wisdom promises something unheard of today, she will speak only Truth. She won't lie to you. She won't lead you into treachery, deceit or take advantage of you. She only desires to protect you, teach you and give you understanding.
Won't you stop and listen?
Won't you quit trying to do things your own way and follow Wisdom?
Read on.
| Wisdom Says: Trust Her Posted: 07 Sep 2010 01:00 AM PDT "You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse." (Proverbs 8:5-8) We're walking through Proverbs 8 together this week, and Wisdom has been standing at a high-traffic spot in town calling out to get our attention as we rush through our busy lives. She seems convinced she has something we need, if we'll just slow down and listen for a minute.
Her message, she says, can change our lives forever. If we'll pay attention, she can help simple, foolish people like us who normally get used by the world to become prudent. She can help us understand all the most important things.
She knows. She knows. We've heard these pitches before. We've seen all the infomercials for diets and face creams and exercise machines and get-rich schemes. That's not her bag. She insists: "What I'm going to tell you is worth your time. It's right. I don't lie; I hate lies. I don't want to cheat anyone. I'm not asking for your money."
Think: Do you ever pay less attention to wisdom because it seems like she promises too much? Are we too cynical these days to believe in anything that promises to "make us wise"?
Pray: Ask God to help you trust Him to give you real life-changing wisdom.
Do: Read Proverbs 2.  |
--
Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.org http://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/
