Think, “God!”
.
Proverbs 3:13-20
13. Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding, 14. for the gain from it is better than gain from silver and its profit better than gold. 15. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 16. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy. 19. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; 20. by his knowledge the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew.
Does the world ever seem way too big? Do you ever feel like the throngs are crushing in on you? Are there issues in your life that you just turn over and over in your mind? Is it just tough to be alive some days, because you want to live rightly, but you’re just not sure what that means? Proverbs brings it all down to a pretty one-on-one level. God is the source of happiness, pleasantness, peace.
Not that we won’t have struggles. Not that we won’t experience pain, suffering, grief, death. But that we will never be alone—in our joy, in our rejoicing, in our suffering, in our grief. If we strive to live a godly life, we will be rewarded. The knowledge that the same God who founded the earth and the heavens, also created you, is comfort beyond imagining! But it can also make us feel small—when we lay on our back and look up into the night sky. The vastness of it all can make us feel insignificant and puny.
But Proverbs tells us to rejoice that a God “that big” could think “that small” and create you and me! And God’s word, seeking His way, His direction and understanding, is the way we thank Him for the gift of our existence. How we spend our life is the way we worship Him and show our gratitude—and testify to others. When others see how we live, they will surely want to know, “How do you do it?” And we can tell them, “I have a possession more precious than jewels, more wonderful than anything in this world you could desire: I am a child of God.”
There are so many big issues and big problems in this big world. And it’s so easy to be overwhelmed and discouraged. I find myself shaking my head in dismay and feeling rather helpless sometimes. I can’t feed all the hungry people in the world. I can’t cure AIDS or MS or any other devastating, crippling illness. I can’t extrapolate the number of stars in the sky, or design a space station capable of sustaining human life for years at a time. But I can spread the Good News!
I am a branch of the tree of life. I can do God’s work in his world with my words. I can be kind and loving to others. I can pray and ask for discernment about how I am to live my life. It is daunting to be human! We have so much power and yet we fail to use it! In his book,
The Power of Intention, Wayne Dyer states that one positive act can counter 90,000 negative thoughts/acts. One. Now that’s power! That’s might! That’s mind-boggling!
So the next time you feel like you’re in this all alone, like you are powerless and weak and too insignificant to make a difference in the world:
think God!
I hope today you spend your energy on living a life of wisdom, more precious thaN silver or gold. And that you think “God!” any time an obstacle is thrown up in your path.
Mary
