A wise man has great power, and a person of knowledge increase strength. For waging war you need guidance, and for victory, many advisers. ~Proverbs 24:5-6
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. ~Luke 14:28-33
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man. The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. ~Psalm 147:10-11
Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maakah and through the entire region of the Bikrites, who gathered together and followed him. All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maakah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down, a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.” He went toward her, and she asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he answered. She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.” “I’m listening,” he said. She continued, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Get your answer at Abel,’ and that settled it. We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?” “Far be it from me!” Joab replied, “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bikri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I’ll withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you from the wall.” Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. So, he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem. ~2 Samuel 20:14-23
So, this past weekend I took advantage of the good weather to get some yard work done. One of my projects was to put up a snow fence to, hopefully, give the snow plow guy, who does Ash’s parking lot, some guidance so he doesn’t accidentally push snow into my back yard again this year. My neighbor to the south had some fence posts that he has been meaning to remove for a long time. I was talking to him about my fence project and he offered to give me the posts since he has no use for them anymore. It was a win-win. He had been meaning to remove them and I had a use for them.
Well, they were buried pretty deep, so I had to really plan for how to remove them, especially since some of them were being held in place with tree roots. Lee might have been really proud of some of the contraptions that I designed to pull up those posts. One thing was clear, I wasn’t going to get them up with just my own brute strength, or what’s left of it. I did succeed, and the posts are now supporting my snow fence, just in case you were curious about that. However, my success is probably due more to my head than my muscles alone.
It seems to almost always be the case that “cooler heads prevail.” “A wise man has great power, and a person of knowledge increase strength.” We’re all familiar with the plot line of too many movies where there is a struggle between the wise and the strong. Often, the strong are portrayed as more impulsive, “we’ve got to finish it now!” The wise person is slow and meticulous and prevails in the end. First, however, the added obstacle is the mess that the impulsive, strong person has created by rushing ahead and trying to accomplish victory by force.
It’s a pretty common plot theme, but it connects because it’s also a common window into life. It’s not just something that occurs out there either. We have an internal struggle between our head and our heart that we deal with on, probably a daily basis. Something surprises us and we have an emotional reaction. If we are too dependent on our emotions, allowing them to dictate to us, we may not even be aware of the fact that there are other choices in our response. This demonstrates the importance of counting to ten or, or “taking five,” or having a time out.
Emotions always come first and often shut down the thinking process. Remember Jeremiah’s warning, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jeremiah 17:9) We usually react based on our perceptions, not the facts, and this can do a lot of damage. However, when we can take the time to slow down and think there are benefits. “For waging war, you need guidance, and for victory, many advisers.”
Consider the wise old woman in the story above. She was able to hold off an entire military campaign with her calm, words of wisdom. Jesus talks about using wisdom in conflict, not retreating, not forging on ahead, but taking the time to bring wisdom into play as the best approach for peace. Sometimes, the wise person gets stuck in the head and doesn’t take action, seeking the way not to use force at all, and coming up with every reason not to move. This is not good either.
We do well to use strength, but Strength is best when directed by Wisdom, and don’t forget sister Prudence. Strength is like a little brother to the sisters, Wisdom and Prudence. Wisdom should not look down on Strength as inadequate and Strength should not grow impatient with Wisdom’s consideration. They all work best together, especially as they are under the guidance of the strength, wisdom and prudence that God has provided, not venturing out on their own ideas. Strength, Wisdom, and Prudence are gifts from God and are used best when brought together for His glory.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the gifts of wisdom and prudence to aid strength. I pledge my allegiance to serve You alone. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Be Thou My Vision
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