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February 1 Wisdom’s Partner

I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. ~Proverbs 8:12

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before Him and prepares the way for His steps. ~Psalm 85:10-13

Today we are thinking about partnerships. Wisdom is introducing her partner, Prudence, to us. Letting us know that she is not going it alone.  In Psalm 85 we learn that faithfulness and love are partners. Righteousness and peace work together. In the Proverbs, wisdom partners with prudence, but who is she? What is prudence?

My first thought is, wasn’t she the name of a little girl in a sit com in the 60s? I think that’s when I was first introduced to the word, “prudence,” but I don’t think that’s what wisdom means here.

The dictionary says:  “noun: prudence; plural noun: prudences. The quality of being prudent; cautiousness.” Words that are similar would include:  good judgment, judiciousness, shrewdness, advisability, common sense, care, carefulness, far-sightedness, foresight, forethought, discretion, thrift, thriftiness, providence, good management, careful budgeting, economy, frugality, I think you get the point. Her opposite is listed as, “folly and recklessness,” characteristics that wisdom speaks out against often.

You may be tempted to think that she sounds a lot like wisdom, and you would be right. As in any good partnership, the more similar two partners can be in their thinking, the better chance for unified thinking and reduced level of conflict. However, as is often said about human relationships, if both of you are alike, perhaps one of you isn’t needed. There is a difference between wisdom and prudence that we can appreciate.

Perhaps we can understand it this way, wisdom is the reasoning part of the relationship, prudence is the caution, the brakes that gives wisdom the time to think matters through. It is good for us to be able to use both.

This is hard today when we feel under pressure to make snap decisions. It’s also a challenge to the Christian when we use examples like Peter stepping out of the boat. Where were wisdom and prudence there? Yet, Jesus applauded Peter for such behavior and, as we often say, Peter may have gotten a bit wet, but he was the closest to Jesus that night, in the storm, of any of the disciples. So, how do we use wisdom and prudence to think things through and yet go when our Lord says, “GO,” seemingly at the drop of a hat?

Again, I believe that it comes back to knowing the heart of our Lord, knowing His Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to prompt us appropriately. Maybe I can help us understand it this way. All of you know that my Mom began living with us about a month ago. This wasn’t just a whimsical decision on her part or mine. Wisdom, prudence and obedience were employed to bring this situation about.

First of all, the obedience came from God’s Word. We’re all familiar with the fifth commandment that tells us to honor our parents. Paul reinforces this in Ephesians 6, when he says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.” “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Eph.6:1-3) Then James tells us that: “religion that God, our Father, accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” (James 1:27A) The clincher, however, came for us from Paul in 1 Timothy 5, where he instructs: “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. (1 Tim. 5:3-4)

When we read that in God’s word, trusting our heavenly Father, through His Holy Spirit, we were convicted that it wasn’t enough, as my mother’s son, to leave her to the care of the government in an assisted living facility, 2,000 miles away. Now, however, knowing what obedience to God required in our situation, we began employing wisdom and prudence to discern the best way to make the move. I suppose we could have just gotten her a plane ticket to Grand Rapids and told Delta to make sure she got here and just let the chips fall where they may. In obedience, we did begin moving forward, to honor Christ. We didn’t drag our feet about beginning the process, but wisdom and prudence were needed to enable us to move well.

In truth, the process isn’t over. We are still exploring whether My Mom is best off in our home, or whether she should live nearby in an assisted living facility where we can love her and help her, but not necessarily do all of the hands-on care. Wisdom, the thinking, and prudence, the acting out, is still helping us, daily, to discern what is best for all of us.

Perhaps obedience, wisdom and prudence worked in Peter’s case also, though it happened so quickly that we don’t usually think about it. First of all, he recognized Jesus’ voice because he knew Him through spending time with Him. We can do the same by knowing God’s Word. Secondly, in prudence, Peter didn’t just plunge in, he knew that he wanted to be next to Jesus, but he communicated with Jesus first. Then Jesus gave Peter the go ahead. Finally, though  he may have looked impulsive, wisdom and prudence together warned Peter to put his feet on the surface of the water instead of jumping in and swimming. It was when Peter started looking around and doubting his wisdom that he started getting into trouble.

If you know God’s Word, and want to please God by obeying, trust wisdom and prudence and in patience, you will accomplish your goal.

Prayer: Father give me wisdom to have faith liker Peter! To step out in faith, with wisdom and prudence as my guides, so that I know I am obeying you even if I do something that looks as outrageous as trying to walk on water! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Hymn: Trust and Obey

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