When Lady Wisdom is Mute (Part 3)

Mike Leake

Lady Wisdom is mute. 

But Jesus isn’t. 

There in the midst of the wilderness Jesus is present.  We do not eat the rancid fruit of pride alone.  In fact Christ has already taken the sting out of that fruit.  It’s damning effects are no longer present.  This rancid fruit is for our good. 

Christ has transformed the wilderness. 

And here rather than receiving counsel from Lady Wisdom (which is needed and helpful) we are drawn into a relationship with Wisdom Himself.  He “gives generously to all without reproach”.  In Jesus the clouds begin to lift.  We may even have to walk through the wilderness for a little while longer.  But we won’t walk it alone and we are walking in a wilderness that is transformed by grace.  One where we are able to find even the bitter sweet.

This from Newton:

Bitter, indeed, the waters are.
Which in this desert flow;
Though to the eye they promise fair,
They taste of sin and woe.
Of pleasing draughts I once could dream,
But now, awake, l find,
That sin has poisoned every stream,
And left a curse behind.
But there’s a wonder-working wood,
I’ve heard believers say,
Can make these bitter waters good,
And take the curse away.
The virtues of this healing tree
Are known and prized by few;
Reveal this secret, Lord, to me,
That I may prize it too.
The cross on which the Savior died,
And conquered for his saints;
This is the tree, by faith applied,
Which sweetens all complaints.
Thousands have found the blest effect,
Nor longer mourn their lot;
While on his sorrows they reflect,
Their own are all forgot.
When they, by faith, behold the cross,
Though many grief’s they meet;
They draw again from every loss,
And find the bitter sweet.

When Lady Wisdom is Mute (Part 2)

Mike Leake

I rejected Lady Wisdom’s counsel.  I find myself eating the rancid fruit of a prideful deafness to her pleas.  So I pray for wisdom.  But I am met with silence and even more confusion. 

Why isn’t God giving me wisdom? 

Probably because I have already shown that I do not value wisdom.  If comes and brings wisdom the second that I ask for it while I’m in the pit then I will not grow to value it.  I will make the same mistake next time.  What I need isn’t necessarily wisdom at this point.  I need rescue, I need redemption, I need repentance, I need discipline. 

And because God is a good and wise Father he doles out exactly the measure of discipline and grace that we need.  He lets us walk in the wilderness for awhile.  He makes us long for wisdom. 

A story is told of Socrates that goes like this:

One day a dispassionate young man approached the Greek philosopher and casually said, ‘O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.‘

The philosopher took the young man down to the sea, waded in with him, and then dunked him under the water for thirty seconds. When he let the young man up for air, Socrates asked him to repeat what he wanted. ‘Knowledge, O great one,’ he sputtered.

Socrates put him under the water again, only this time a little longer.

After repeated dunkings and responses, the philosopher asked, ‘What do you want?’ The young man finally gasped, ‘Air. I want air!’ ‘Good,’ answered Socrates. ‘Now, when you want knowledge as much as you wanted air, you shall have it.‘

Our hearts are so dull that until we are made desperate for wisdom—until we have eaten the sour fruit of rejecting wisdom—we will value our own dull-headed sensibilities above the pleas of Lady Wisdom. 

That is why after a season of rejecting counsel we often have to walk in the wilderness for awhile. 

Yet, Christ is deeper still…

When Lady Wisdom is Mute (Part 1)

Mike Leake

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks…

Lady Wisdom cries out, “Don’t walk next to the prostitutes house”.  I’ll be okay, I’m a believer—Jesus will protect me. 

Lady Wisdom cries out, “Don’t be unequally yoked to an unbeliever”.  I’ll be fine, I’ll share Jesus with him, we’ll be okay. 

Lady Wisdom cries out, “Don’t stay all night at her house”.  We’re strong.  We won’t mess up. 

Lady Wisdom cries out, “Don’t get involved with a girl that has that type of history.”  It will be different with me. 

Lady Wisdom cries out, “You’re going to drift, fade, and your affections will be dull unless you devote time to prayer, reading Scripture, and other disciplines”.  Not me.  I’ve got enough bible knowledge to get me through for awhile.  Besides I’m busy.  I’ll pick it back up later. 

Lady Wisdom cries out, “Don’t forsake meeting with other believers.”  I’m busy.  I have other pretty important things going on now.  I’ll be fine for awhile.  Besides church doesn’t save you—Jesus does. 

Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.   (Proverbs 1:24-31)

I didn’t listen to Lady Wisdom.  Now I find myself eating the rancid fruit of a prideful deafness to her pleas.  So I pray for wisdom. 

“Give me wisdom Lord everything is so confusing right now.  Why is this happening, Lord?  I’m so confused.  Give me clarity, help me to see truth.  I need wisdom for this situation.  What do I do?”

Silence.

 

Yet, Christ is deeper………

A Quick Review of Galileo by Mitch Stokes

Mike Leake

Math.  Science.  Physics.  Three things that I did not do well at in school.  Or perhaps I could have said three things that bored the life out of me in high school.  (Actually sometimes physics was cool.  And occasionally science was tolerable.  But I’d rather endure tiny cuts to my body and take a bath in alcohol than to have to take another math class). 

It is with that background that I decided to review a book on Galileo.  I figured that there would be a good amount of math/science nerd speak that I would have to sift through but I would mostly get to hear the story of how the Catholic church messed over Galileo. 

But I did not have to “sift through nerd speak” because Mitch Stokes is one of those talented authors that can make something as mind-numbingly boring as ancient mathematics and make it seem as exciting as front row seats to battles between Athens and Sparta. 

Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration—but Stokes really does help his readers understand the intellectual climate that Galileo found himself in.  He does an excellent job of not only helping us understand more about Galileo’s life but also the world in which he lived in.  For that I was grateful. 

Stokes also did much to fairly represent the Catholic church during this time.  He does a tremendous job of showing that Galileo is not the martyr that many make him out to be.  In fact he remained faithful to the Catholic church even up until his death.  I would have never known that from what I learned about him in school. 

I would have liked to have known a little more about the interaction of Galileo’s faith and the trials that he endured.  There is some interaction with Galileo’s beliefs but it is somewhat minimal.  In a Christian Encounters series it would have beneficial to have seen a little more of the influence that Jesus had on the life of the books subject.  But it is possible that such information is relatively scant. 

This was a good read.  And if you like biographies this is a good one.  It is fun to read about people that I would often not read about.  And for this reason I am grateful that Thomas Nelson provided a free copy in exchange for a review.

If you want to buy the book you can do so here.  I would also suggest checking out Thomas Nelson’s entire Christian Encounters series.  I plan on looking up a few more of these myself.