Wisdom, Authorities, and Inequities
Open Your Bible
Ecclesiastes 8:1-17, Proverbs 10:7, 2 Corinthians 13:4
BY Bailey Gillespie
One summer, three friends and I strapped on our backpacks to hike the irrigation trail up the side of a canyon wall. This one canyon is a popular hiking spot because of its proximity to the Foresthill Bridge, the fourth highest bridge in the United States.
Halfway up the mountain, nausea hit. Due to the intermingling of 90-degree heat and a limited water supply, I felt instant regret over suggesting this vertical trail that wasn’t even meant for hiking. (It’s an irrigation trail, after all.) Wisdom sure wasn’t the one leading the charge in this decision; it was my own ego and the myth of invincibility. After we almost passed out from dehydration, two of my friends had to shoulder my body weight and help carry me the rest of the way.
Scripture says that “a person’s wisdom brightens his face” (Ecclesiastes 8:1). At the time when Ecclesiastes was written, wisdom was attributed as coming from a divine source. A bright face was considered physical evidence of wisdom in the wise person’s life, just as Moses’s face shone with radiance after spending time with the Lord (Exodus 34:34–35).
Our faces today may not emit a visible shining substance when we make good decisions or spend quality time with the Lord. But wisdom lingers with us the way campfire smoke stays on your clothes after hours roasting the perfect marshmallows. It favorably directs our steps and will be evident in our lives when we exercise it. Since our thoughts and actions affect those we are in community with, when we use wisdom in decision-making, we can also bring life to our collective environments. In doing so, perhaps our sphere of the world can better operate by kingdom values, such as justice, mercy, and love.
Proverbs offers the encouragement that “remembrance of the righteous is a blessing” (Proverbs 10:7). Those who live from a place of wisdom—whose faces are “brightened” by the Spirit of the Living God—are a blessing. It’s not that the wise avoid folly altogether. They just learn from their mistakes. As Jesus-followers, if our aim is to pursue abundant life, our lives will be marked by years that smell like wisdom.
In the end, climbing a mountain on a 90-degree day probably wasn’t wise. While our faces may have glistened, it wasn’t from nearing the Mount of Transfiguration, but from perspiring pearls of sweat that mocked our foolish decision. You’d better believe we learned from that mistake and will only plan future hikes up paths that are intended for human recreation.
67 thoughts on "Wisdom, Authorities, and Inequities"
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This was a difficult read to follow for me, I don’t know if I’m just distracted today or what. But reading Ecclesiastes 8 in the message version helped a lot! I’m still praying that I can receive wisdom from god and that my life will be changed by it.
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I understand where Kelly Minter from the podcast is coming from about being single and not having anyone to quarantine with. It has been lonely. I have turned to God, Christ and the Holy Spirit multiple times through out this “Stay-At-Home” period.
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Dear Sarah D. In response to the doubt your sister had about un reached people, the Apostle Paul addressed this with the Romans in Romans 1:8-22. God has given His creation so that people will turn to Him and look for Him, so they are without excuse. But most do not want to turn to Him, but turn away and their heart becomes foolish and darkened, thinking they are wiser than God. Hope this helps.
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These are such emotional times For me. Yesterday I was pulled back into grief, Remembering my mom went to be with Jesus 2 years ago today.I took care of her for a year and a 1/2 And there were many difficult times As she developed dementia. I’m amazed how fresh those memories still are and how deeply grieved I can still feel. I sobbed and groaned for a long time yesterday. I don’t think it was just remembering my mom, The being overwhelmed by all the tragedies and our nation and recently in our family. As I wept, I read the whole book of lamentations. This morning I read the 1st chapter again, using it as a prompt for a nation. I pray Throughout the week for so many who are afflicted And who are grieving.Being 74 years old, I suppose that the death
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Good morning dear sisters in Christ. May I ask for you all to keep me in your prayers. I have to have a follow up ultrasound for a mammogram I had done last week. I am a bit scared but I know that God is in control.
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JESSICA: Thanks for sharing the quote by Esau McCaulley; they are wise words and increase clarity on the issues in my own mind.
LEHUA K: I pray the Lord’s peace continues to surround you as you return to work.
SARAH D: I’m glad for the update regarding your conversations with your sister. My sister (actually both sisters) is in a similar place. I pray the Lord grants each of them new eyes to see his perspective. As I needed his mercy to open my eyes to the truth, so do our sisters.
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I can see how my thoughts intertwine with many of yours. Here’s what I wrote before reading your comments. I’m glad for so much unity of mind!
“Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?” (Ecclesiastes 8:5-7)
It is my desire to be one with a wise heart, especially in dealing with “fooling authorities” who “abuse their authority.” According to my study Bible notes “the nearly unlimited power they possessed in the ancient world meant that those who had to deal directly with them required exceptional wisdom.”. Our present day realities tell me that we very much need the same. Then as I read on in the study notes, it said that “keep the king’s command indicates not so much ‘obeying’ as ‘protecting, guarding, keeping watch over’. The Preacher is reminding the king’s counselor that he is obligated to help restrain the king from making foolish decisions on account of his ‘oath to God’.” (I seriously would not have understood this without the study notes!)
Now it’s apparent that the majority of us are not the direct counselor of the president, or even our governors or our mayors. Yet, my thoughts are going to all the (legal) ways to “restrain” authorities who are unjust or making foolish decisions. We can contact our congressmen. We can hold peaceful protests. We can sign petitions. We can vote.
I admit that trying to keep up with all the political ideologies of various people in or campaigning for office is daunting to me. I know it’s a good thing to do, but my energies are so limited thus making it difficult to consider it all. In this great weakness, I am grateful for the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:4 which remind me that Jesus Christ was crucified in weakness but made alive through God’s power. We who are in Christ are also in weakness, yet God promises to empower us to do the good works he has predestined for us to do before the foundation of the world. Perhaps my steps of action may be less than another human being, but I aim to pray for wisdom and trust that in whatever amount of resources I have (including energy), the Lord may bless them like he did the few fish and loaves which fed the multitudes. In that way, the Lord gets the glory and not me (or us). And this is my hope and desire — to God be the glory!
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After everything that has happened the last few months in my life and the last few days in the nation and in my city, I really don’t know what to say or think. I know God is in control of everything but I still have to ask “why?” Why the COVID-19 pandemic? Why did my niece have to die at the age of almost 36? Why did I get in a car accident? Why did the officer have to kill George Floyd? Why all the riots and damage? God why? Why? Why? Yes I know I probably won’t get answers in this life time but I just wonder. Maybe if I’m still long enough God will answer. Hope all of you my She Reads Truth sisters have a blessed day.
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