
01-07-13 Better Wise Than Clever
Along the way you meet some very interesting people, some nice people, even a few rich ones, and truckloads of Them People, the ones to quickly evaluate and move on.
Ben Mott is one of the keepers. The other day, in response to one of my articles, Ben wrote a few kind words to encourage me. Below the signature line on the email was a vignette that grabbed my attention. I have mused on it for several days. It is a Hebrew Proverb:
“Clever people extricate themselves from situations that wise people avoid.”
After chewing on the proverb I must conclude that while I have demonstrated cleverness over the long span of life allotted to me, based on empirical evidence, I do not qualify as wise. This is due to the fact that I have discovered myself in too many situations that, had I acted wisely, I would not have been in.
I thought about several situations involving others within the framework of ministry. When I found myself and the ministry in a situation, I wasn’t surprised, for the people acted in a predictable manner based on past performance. Therefore I had not used wisdom in entering into any sort of endeavor with them. Simple? Yes, but I had chosen clever.
Consider the prior context and then read the wisdom of Moses in Psalms 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Copyright © 2013 Larry Lilly
Check out , Outrageous Forgiveness In 30 Days for special price on this Life Changing Book
Along the way you meet some very interesting people, some nice people, even a few rich ones, and truckloads of Them People, the ones to quickly evaluate and move on.
Ben Mott is one of the keepers. The other day, in response to one of my articles, Ben wrote a few kind words to encourage me. Below the signature line on the email was a vignette that grabbed my attention. I have mused on it for several days. It is a Hebrew Proverb:
“Clever people extricate themselves from situations that wise people avoid.”
After chewing on the proverb I must conclude that while I have demonstrated cleverness over the long span of life allotted to me, based on empirical evidence, I do not qualify as wise. This is due to the fact that I have discovered myself in too many situations that, had I acted wisely, I would not have been in.
I thought about several situations involving others within the framework of ministry. When I found myself and the ministry in a situation, I wasn’t surprised, for the people acted in a predictable manner based on past performance. Therefore I had not used wisdom in entering into any sort of endeavor with them. Simple? Yes, but I had chosen clever.
Consider the prior context and then read the wisdom of Moses in Psalms 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Copyright © 2013 Larry Lilly
Check out , Outrageous Forgiveness In 30 Days for special price on this Life Changing Book