Day Twenty Six - The High Cost of Wisdom
I have spent the last few months launching out into a life-coaching arena to add some depth of layers into my ministry and another stream of income into our family. It has actually been the most invigorating aspect of my last few months. For sure it means early mornings and late nights as I go online for coaching sessions with girls in different parts of the world, but I am so up for this season.
It has also stirred my desire to educate myself. But the moment I begin online research I am bombarded with a feed of things that social media says I need to buy.
Then I get overwhelmed
We seem to be over-resourced and under-equipped!
I want to learn and grow but it takes a lot of clarity to know what to listen to amidst the noise that shouts on us from every social media post!
Plus I have teenagers that sometimes get their opinions and education from google and social media and we push back so hard on those opinions unless they have thought, and a greater source than just ‘I found it on tic-tok’. Especially my husband as an eight who can’t stand opinions that have no backbone Or intelligent thought to them.
So one thing I do in my coaching is constantly ask people how is that knowledge being applied. How is it relevant in practice, not in theory?
Education of girls is a huge focus right now around the world and I love this because it is one of the strongest features of these daughters was their ability to come forth with boldness because of the way they had educated themselves in the matters that they wanted to speak about with boldness.
So much of this journey is about applying what you are learning. I also pray you would not feel a sense of striving as you increase your expectation. There is one thing I believe the Lord does require of us and that is in relation to our stance and our position… these women had boldness to come forth. Not because they held an opinion, but because they dug deep, used their skills to apply the knowledge of the law to their situation.
Over the next few days we will look at what it really means to ‘come forth’…
I think it involves:
BREAKING RANK
SHOWING UP
ENTERING YOUR ARENA
But like me, I am recognizing that every arena God is calling me into requires new levels oF wisdom. Knowledge applied is what wisdom is defined as.
Now Zelophehad’s five daughters came forward… They stood before Moses, Eleazar
the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of
Meeting
Numbers 27:1-2
They came forward ..
They stood before…
They spoke …
There is just so much in these few sentences.
2 Corinthians 6. 11-13Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you
to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel
comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way.
I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live
openly and expansively!
I personally sense that half way through our journey there is MORE. More openness to WISDOM! Wisdom opens your life up to new possibilities.
There is another level to go to in our boldness. In our applied knowledge - so it feels costly and experiencial.
“My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding; That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment), And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation]. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb] And her speech is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life; Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.”
Proverbs 5:1-6 AMP
May my path of life always have intentionality and strength. May I not lead people astray.
Today I had important conversations with my husband and good voices in my world about the distinction with pastoral work, coaching, therapy and more. They all blend. Yet at the same time they have distinct purposes.
I am digging deep into some new research on trauma and triggers. All the more for people in leadership. I am educating myself on how the brain works and it’s fascinating. Pastors and leaders are no less exposed to traumatic situations and sometimes even more.
I feel like like when I begin to learn here, it feels like, a new arena. And then God says ‘where you place your feet I will give you that land’ and we are boldly going to place our feet again in these new arenas so we can help more people. Especially my passion is for women who lead and influence.
The enemy of our souls loves to restrict, repress, constrain and keep us small. Yet
the kingdom is advancing and I want all in. I do not want to stay small and I want the
boldness to continue coming forth, educated and equipped. By no means having all the knowledge... but endeavouring to grow and learn!
Think about an area of your life that you have felt constrained or restricted in. What
can you do personally to ‘come forth’ and come forward in that area. What is just
one step you can take? How can you get the wisdom you need to step boldly into these new arenas? Where do you see appllied knowledge?
Share it with us today and inspire us with your bold learning!