Christian Living
Gaining Wisdom
By Lynn Wallace
Christian walk carefully, danger is near;
On in thy journey with trembling and fear.
Snares from without and temptations within,
Seek to entice thee once more into sin.
(Published in Gospel Hymns, #5 in 1887)
Circumspect is essentially the same word as carefully. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Eph. 5:15). If we walk carefully, we will keep our eyes on what goes on around us. This will guard us from stumbling.
Wise Behavior
A circumspect person will behave wisely. “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Col. 4:5). In the Valley Manor Care Center in Montrose, Colorado, I started talking to someone. In doing so I turned my back on the resident and forgot about the foam pad behind me. I took a step backwards, and landed hard on my left wrist.
My wrist has suffered a bad sprain, I thought. It will be all right.
“Go to the emergency room,” a person urged me. I started toward the emergency room. However, I found making a forty-five degree turn with one arm difficult.
I’ll drive to Mom’s house instead, I decided. Then I’ll ask someone else to drive me to the hospital. The doctor examined my wrist, “You broke your wrist. You cannot drive with this cast on it.”
Because I decided to visit the hospital, now I can drive, compute and play the piano. Otherwise, I could hardly dress myself or take a shower.
Wise in Using Time
A wise person buys up the time. “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). We lived one-half hour from our church. After eating lunch, we often spent time in a mall. One day “break dancers” performed there. Later, I said to my husband, “I should have said something to those ‘break dancers’. I was afraid.”
“Why didn’t you say something to me?” Leon rebuked me. “I would have spoken to them.” I failed to number my days and apply my heart unto wisdom as Psalm 90:12 instructs us.
Wise in Knowing God’s Will
If I walk carefully, I will know God’s will. “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). I traveled to Bloomfield, New Mexico to enjoy a vacation. Ron lived there and served as a missionary to the Navajo Indian. I said, “I’m not called to the Navajo.” I had other excuses. I thought I can never learn Navajo. It is too hard.
One day we rode about sixty-five miles on dirt roads to White Rock. Ron’s brother, said, “One in five of these Navajos understand English.” Therefore, he preached in Navajo. We arrived early and made a few visits before the service started. One woman said, “Ya’aat’ééh,” to me. When we arrived back in Farmington, New Mexico, I asked Don, “Does ya’aat’ééh mean ‘hello’?”
“You’re a pretty good Navajo,” he replied. One word answered an excuse.
The last day there I went to my room and opened my Bible to Isaiah 42. The Lord seemed to shout at me from His Word, “I the LORD have called thee....To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isa. 42:6-7). He spoke to my heart, “Who is as blind as the Navajo? Do not their sins imprison them? Do they not sit in darkness?” God answered my argument, “I’m not called to the Navajo.”
After I returned to my home in Montrose, Colorado, I made plans to return to the Navajo. About a year later Leon Wallace came to Farmington to work with the Navajo. God led us to marry. Later, He gave us a daughter. The Lord blessed me for saying, “Yes.”
Wise in Being Filled
A wise believer seeks the filling of the Spirit. “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). Strong drink controls a life; God wants us to yield to Him and trust Him. Then the Spirit of God can control our lives. When He does so, we will fill ourselves with the Word of God. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16).
As a young believer, I sometimes skipped my time of devotion with God. Somehow, those days did not go as well. Since then, I have said in my heart, it does not pay to skip my time with God. I am not going to do that anymore. This decision helped me tremendously.
A Spirit-filled life is a powerful life. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). I pray, “Oh God, fill me, give me power, lead me, give me souls.”
Let us ask ourselves, “Does the Spirit control my life?” I know my answer is, “Not always. I still have some growing to do.” Let us take heed and do right. “Then beware lest thou forget the Lord...And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee” (Deut. 6:12, 18). “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside” (Deut. 11:16). O, Christian, walk carefully.
Lynn Wallace, a writer, lives in Montrose, Colorado on her parents’ farm. She plays the piano at Canyon View Baptist Church. In 2008 Ambassador Emerald published her first book, Our Lifeship: Studies in Proverbs for Women. Copies may be obtained from her website, www.writingfrommyheart.com.
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