Godly Wisdom for When Life Doesn't Make Sense

Before you react this week, pause, pray, and interpret the situation that you are in through the lens of knowing Jesus has overcome the world. Be of good cheer or be courageous in that moment. Your attitude is what is going to change your outlook on the situation. And then he gives us two examples that we need to really dig into where we need Godly wisdom and where the world sometimes does not make sense. He says first of all, or number two, I need Godly wisdom to deal with other people. Everything just goes along fine in my life until the people get involved. [00:31:03] (45 seconds)  #PausePrayPerspective

See, Tony Dungy endured a horrible tragedy. He lost a son, a teenage son at one point in his life. And Tony Dungy in his book said, you can't always control circumstances. However, you can always control your attitude, your approach, and your response. Your options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how do I make the situation better. See, Tony Dungy was simply saying in that moment that he's not going to react, he's going to respond. And that is an attitude that can only come when you believe that there is a God who is in control. [00:29:52] (43 seconds)  #RespondDontReact

But David refused to take an opportunity if it wasn't in obedience. Not every opportunity is actually God's opportunity, and David refused to take that. Our opportunities should never override our obedience. Number three, I need godly wisdom to deal with what I cannot change. I need godly wisdom to deal with my own attitude. I need it to deal with authority. I need godly wisdom to deal with what I cannot change. Look at, pardon me, at verse eight. We see the limits of control. No one has authority over the wind to restrain it and there is no authority over the day of death. [00:46:24] (50 seconds)  #ObedienceOverOpportunity

I'm I'm wrestling with some things and I I always do but more recently, seems like in the last couple weeks, it's really kinda hit me. I have a wonderful friend in ministry, pastors pastored a great church. 2023, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. I along with his church and just a host of other friends prayed and sought God for his healing. He's only a few years, just a very few years older than me and last week the Lord decided that it was time for him to come home and my friend died. That doesn't make sense to me sometimes. [00:22:26] (47 seconds)  #WrestlingWithLoss

I need Godly wisdom to deal with my own attitude when life doesn't make sense. When life doesn't make sense, I need the wisdom of God first of all to deal with me, to deal with my own frustrations, my own anger, my own disappointment, my own depression. Listen to what Solomon says in chapter eight verse one. Who is like the wise person and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A person's wisdom brightens his face and the sternness of his face is changed. Solomon points us to wisdom in this moment and he says a person who knows the interpretation of a matter. By interpretation that word means understanding the meaning behind something. It's not just having the facts and the data, it's understanding what is going on behind the scenes. [00:26:35] (61 seconds)  #SeekGodlyWisdom

But Solomon in this passage of scripture is really going to help us but there are no easy answers. He's not gonna offer us simplistic solutions and this is not a course on how you master a life that doesn't make sense. This is actually Solomon saying to us, here's how you trust God when life doesn't make sense. And for all of us in this room, for all of us at any of our campuses this morning, life at times is just not gonna make sense. [00:25:58] (34 seconds)  #TrustGodInConfusion

Whatever the authority is, the bible says that God has established that authority. There is no authority except from God is what Paul wrote. So whether it is a police officer or the principal of your school or a coach or a teacher or your boss or your commanding officer or a drill sergeant. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you are under an obligation to live under that authority. And secondly, he would say don't resist that authority. Don't try to evade it. Look at verse three. Don't be in a hurry to leave his presence. [00:36:49] (43 seconds)  #RespectAuthority

It might be a moment like Tim Tebow had with his head coach Urban Meyer. Tim Tebow was a follower of Jesus, Urban Meyer was not. And it might be that you have the ability to influence that person for Christ. So don't be hasty to remove yourself from authority. And and the third thing he tells us is don't be defiant in the face of authority. In verse four he says for the king's word is authoritative and who can say to him what are you doing? This is the equivalent of us looking at a king and saying what do you think you're doing? He's the one in authority. [00:38:28] (41 seconds)  #StayAndInfluence

And and then they just make a train wreck of things sometimes, right? I mean, we've all been there but Solomon says that there are some areas where we deal with other people where we need God's wisdom and especially when the world doesn't make sense. He says one of those areas is living under authority. Look at verse two, Keep the king's command because of your oath made before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave his presence and don't persist in a bad cause since he will do whatever he wants. For the king's word is authoritative and who can say to him what are you doing? Solomon says we need to learn to live under appropriate legitimate authority. In this world, we see people all the time who are resisting authority. Respect for authority, whether it is law enforcement or educational authority or or authorities like what we see in the media, it's at an all time low. [00:31:49] (69 seconds)  #WisdomForAuthority

And Tony Dungy was just the exact opposite of that. He was very calm, he was composed on the sideline, he was actually quite soft spoken most of the time. His responses to bad plays, to fumbles, or to interceptions, to the defense, giving up a big play to the other team's offense was usually very measured. And while he was very intense in his love for the game and his love for the job, he was calm. But even in his own personal life that was manifested. It wasn't just an act on the football field, it wasn't just for the sidelines. [00:29:13] (39 seconds)  #CalmLeadership

In the fourth quarter, they're standing out on the field ready to run a play. He takes off his helmet, throws it on the ground, starts taking off his jersey and his shoulder pads, throws them on the ground, pulls off his wide receiver gloves, throws them off the ground, and walks off the field. He says that he was disagreeing with the way that the play callers were using him in the system. And then he said, and I was also injured. Well, those are two contradictory playing plays. I I wanna play more and I can't play. I mean, after the game, Bruce Arians, who was the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walks to a microphone and says, Antonio Brown is no longer a buck. They cut him before the game was even over. [00:42:38] (42 seconds)  #DefianceHasConsequences

Antonio Brown was so convinced of his athletic ability that someone else would pick him up, it was the last time he was ever on the field in the NFL. When you are defiant in the face of authority, let me tell you something, everybody else sees it and not and when you treat others disrespectfully, you lose respect personally. Disrespect those in authority and I will guarantee you others will look at you and have disrespect for you. So what is he saying to us in this passage of scripture? He's telling us that respect for authority reveals much about our trust in God. If you really trust that God is in control, you will treat those in authority with great respect. [00:43:22] (49 seconds)  #RespectRevealsFaith

But scripture teaches us something, that authority is not ultimate. Human authority is not ultimate. God is the ultimate authority but it is real and we must learn to respect authority. Also, say but Bob, the government is all messed up or it's, you know, what about in a country where the government is terrible? God works through imperfect systems. He always does. If you read through the Old Testament, God works through imperfect leaders and imperfect people. That's true. So Solomon is telling in this passage that we need wisdom in order to live under authority. [00:33:37] (41 seconds)  #GodOverAuthority

Now what about like if you lived in a country where there was a regime in charge and they said it's against the law for you to believe or to preach in Jesus. That is where the exception comes into play from Acts chapter five. In Acts chapter five, Peter and John are summoned before the Sanhedrin, an authoritative body of of people who have authority and they said, we command you to no longer preach and to teach in this name of Jesus and they said, we must obey God and not man. You can only play that card if you're willing to accept the consequences for it because, yes, you can defy authority in that moment but that authority might have the ability or the capacity to take your life. [00:35:35] (54 seconds)  #ObeyGodNotMan

I'm older than him but I'm gonna call him sir in that situation. I'm gonna tell you why I am. Because in that moment, he is in the position of authority and I am not. And when I do that, I change the whole tone of the interaction. As long as a police officer is giving you a lawful command, just just obey it, just do what they tell you to do, and it will go well with you. Now, you may still get a ticket, but you were speeding anyway. It will go much better with you than if you are defiant in the face of authority. I'm just gonna put it to you this way, whether it is a law enforcement officer, whether it is a coach, whether it is your boss, no matter who it is, if you are defiant and disrespectful in the face of authority, it is displeasing to God. [00:40:36] (55 seconds)  #ObeyLawfulAuthority

Now we we do things in our culture, we're so vain. We do things in our culture and they'll they'll tell you, you know, I I follow things about triathlon because I I do that and I I'm always getting like emails and I don't know how they get my name and they're telling me if you do this you could extend your life by twenty years. No, I can't. Now, I do work out but I work out not for quantity of days but for quality of days. I do think it helps you to live a better life but let me tell you something friend, I have no authority over the day I'm gonna die, none, and you don't either. There is an appointed time for you to be born, there's an appointed time for you to die. [00:49:03] (43 seconds)  #AppointedTimes

Now, this is Solomon who is the king who's writing this and what he's saying is there are even limits to my authority even though I have absolute right to rule and make laws. I cannot make a law that the wind will not blow 30 miles an hour every day in Wichita Falls, Texas. And it does, right? And sometimes it's out of the North and it'll freeze you to death and sometimes it's out of the Mexican Desert and it'll dry out like living in a blow dryer. You there is no authority over the wind. He's saying that there are things you cannot control in life. You cannot control outcomes. You cannot control death even. [00:47:29] (43 seconds)  #AcceptLimitsOfControl

In the old testament there is this incredible story and struggle between a man who was king of Israel, his name was Saul, and Saul had been chosen by God to be the king but he was impetuous, he was disobedient, he was not respectful of God himself at times, and so God rejected Saul as king and he raised up a shepherd boy that wasn't even related to Saul named David to be the king. Well, Saul knew that and so there was something of a civil war that was going on and Saul was trying to kill David because he knew David was gonna be the next king. And he pursued David and David at times had some men who were loyal to him and and they would hide in the caves and Saul and his men were searching for David to kill him. [00:45:27] (53 seconds)  #PersecutionAndPromise

But Solomon says when you don't punish crime, when you don't punish evil, then evil begins to flourish. Maybe we ought to listen to this just as a thought. But it doesn't just happen in the judicial system. If one law is broken in another way, then people think I can get away with it. If one student cheats and gets away with it then other students start cheating. If in our culture a sin is celebrated in the street then that sin begins to increase. And we look around going, God, where is the justice? Where is justice? Well understand this, delayed judgment from God does not mean that judgment was absent from God. Where is God? Let me tell you this, God is not absent, he is not indifferent, and he is not confused. [00:53:03] (64 seconds)  #JusticeMatters

What is Solomon saying there? He says two things and this is what I wanna leave you with. Right now mercy is available for sinners, for the what he calls the wicked. We might say a New Testament expression, those who are far from God. Another New Testament word, those who are lost, those who are without Christ. Right now mercy is available. That's why God doesn't rain down lightning bolts from heaven every time somebody steps out of line. His mercy is available. God is patiently waiting and wooing and trying to draw people to repentance. God is not slow about keeping his promises, but he is patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. Mercy is available today. [00:54:35] (69 seconds)  #MercyIsAvailable