Wisdom and Service

Wisdom and Service

“Buy wisdom, and with all your acquiring, buy understanding. Exalt her and she will exalt you! She will honor you when you embrace her.” Prov. 4:7-8 (Norw.). We need wisdom in all our conduct, whether we are among ungodly people or within God’s assembly. We need wisdom in our family life and when working with souls.

We need grace over our lives in order to conduct ourselves in wisdom. We must pray for grace to help in times of need. We need grace when we testify and in all that we do. The reason God is able to give us grace is that Jesus Christ, through His resurrection, has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Tim. 1:10.

When everything we do is done in love, wisdom is completely fulfilled—even though this love can always increase in discernment and understanding. We can never comprehend wisdom in its entirety as human beings. Thus, it must be broken down into many commandments. These holy commandments all contain the spirit of wisdom. Therefore, keep the commandments, and you will become wise. The law is now inscribed on the fleshy tablets of our heart. Follow the law and be faithful to your conscience, and wisdom will enter your heart.

Do not be a conceited know-it-all. Never interfere with someone else’s work. When God has given someone a soul with whom to work, leave these two in peace. Do not come between them as a third person. Do not be like Jannes and Jambres, copying what others before you have done. Find your own work in Christ, and confirm your own calling in Him. Do not be one who meddles in other people’s business. Jesus came with grace and truth. When you meet a soul who has a longing for more of God, prepare yourself first before you serve him. We need great grace ourselves before we can pass God’s truths on to others. The devil can also speak truths, but they only serve evil purposes. When Jesus speaks a truth to us, He gives it with great grace, and it has a liberating effect. A truth spoken in a satanic spirit only causes pain and offense.

Therefore, if we want to serve a soul, let us first arm ourselves before the face of God with great grace. Never handle a soul with cold fingers—that will only frighten him. Jesus said that when He was lifted up, He would draw all men to Himself. Let us do what we can to draw to Him every person whom God leads on our way.

There are far too many among us who are occupied with themselves and their own problems, and they never seem to come to an end of it all. Let us work with others even while we ourselves are being consumed. Paul himself was sacrificed as he helped others to make sacrifices. Phil. 2:17. There is no better way to forget yourself and your own problems than by serving others. Recently I saw a plaque on one of the friend’s walls: “Saved to Serve.” This is a normal Christian life. Jesus came not to be served but to serve.

Spiritual sickness can have its root in many things—first and foremost in secret sins. A person can also become disheartened and despondent under the chastening of the Lord, so that he comes into darkness and lets go of faith. Faith must be preserved in every situation. Jeremiah says, “I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath. He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. . . . Even when I cry out and shout, He shuts out my prayer. . . . In dark places He has made me dwell, like those who have long been dead. He made the arrows of his quiver to enter into my inward parts.” (Norw.). In spite of everything, this prophet still says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lam. 3.

From this we must learn to hold on in the darkness, knowing that God cannot and will not forsake us. No holy man or woman has ever escaped from this darkness of God. Even Jesus cried out in His final hour of need: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Nevertheless, His faith did not fail; He committed His spirit into the hands of the Father in spite of the fact that He had apparently been forsaken. In this way, Jesus became the perfecter of our faith. Do not let go of faith when you are in darkness. The Lord will return—full of mercy.

Another reason you can lose your balance spiritually is because you do not resist Satan firmly in faith so that he flees from you. He approaches you as an accuser in some area. If you lend him an ear, a fly soon becomes an elephant, a molehill becomes a mountain, and in the end, your mind will be consumed with this matter day and night. You will lose sleep and become a nervous wreck. All this is a result of not taking up the battle against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places—the powers that Jesus conquered on the cross and put under His feet by His resurrection. Eph. 6:12 and 1:22. By faith we also conquer these powers, for our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. We have been translated from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. Satan does not have power over us when we abide in Jesus Christ. Satan is the prince of darkness, so when we come into darkness, it can seem as though we have come under the power of Satan again. But that is not so. When a believing soul enters into darkness, it is for the purpose of getting to know himself better. For a time, God takes His light and grace away from us, so we are left with our own hideousness, which seems to us to be worse than death. He illuminates us with His light. While this lasts, we tremble and are terrified, but then God lets His light shine again in the face of Christ, and He lets His grace come over us. The result is that in this darkness, we have learned a lesson we would not have wanted to miss. So do not be disheartened when the Lord is chastening you, for what son does the Lord not chasten? Some souls wail loudly during the chastening and darkness; others bear it quietly and peacefully so others hardly notice.

For the upright, light will arise in the darkness. This can happen time and time again, because on this way, we are led from light to light. God always causes His light to shine forth from darkness.