IMG_9504When I first became a Christian, some 47 years ago, I was given a little booklet emphasising the importance of  2 Timothy 2.15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

I don’t know if I totally understood its meaning then or if I fully do today!   But the message it placed in my heart has remained with me all these years and is the theme of almost all my ministry and certainly my life values:-The Bible holds the secret for a strategy for life and if we seek to live by it, by His help, we will live successful lives, well pleasing to Him.

In the years that followed my conversion and certainly while we have been in church leadership, I have been deeply distressed by the number of Christians leading damaged and defeated lives in at least certain areas.  During ministry, counselling or just generally talking, it has become clear that what many are seeking isn’t necessarily a modern phenomena, because it was also the request of Naaman to Elisha, “Call upon your God, wave your hand over me and heal my leprosy.” 2 Kings.5.11.   And I certainly understand that desire, I too would like instantaneous answers to my problems! “Lord wave your magic wand and change my spouse, my child, my bank account, my health, my addictions, my bad habits, change my life, now!”   Sometimes by His grace, God does just that, but much more often, my experience has been that God is there to help, direct, guide and encourage. His plan is that we have “a strategy for life” and work out our own problems, until we come to a place of victory in that area. The book of Proverbs sings the virtues of wisdom for life.  Do this and you will succeed, do that and you will fail.   James 1.5. tells us that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God for it and He, without recriminations,  will give it to us.   Wisdom in our finances, wisdom in our marriages, wisdom to raise our children, wisdom in our ministries, wisdom in our jobs, wisdom in our relationships, wisdom to stay fit and well.

Let me give you an example.   If I was deeply in debt, I am pretty certain that my desire would be that God would come and turn my red bank balance black immediately!  And certainly I would be praying and seeking God about this need.   But Godly wisdom says I should look at why I am in debt.  Am I unwise in my spending, do I have a budget?  Where could I economise? Am I honouring God and tithing?  Have I caught this world’s materialism and credit culture?   A more mature prayer would be, ”God help me to get out of this mess and give me wisdom with my finances.”  If God did come with immediate answers, there is a really strong probability that without altering our behaviour, we would soon be back in exactly the same position as before.

God gives us wisdom so that we can retrain ourselves in that area, so we become overcoming and victorious and not defeated.   He gives us that strategy for life, the vast majority of which can be found in His Word.

Let me just counter this by saying, when we know there is absolutely nothing more we can do, that we are living wise, obedient lives, that’s when He will come in and miraculously change the situation.   In our years in Gibraltar,  living as missionaries on a very meagre pay and raising two children, being extremely economical with our money,  we at times knew totally miraculous financial provision.   During one period, each month a bundle of bank notes was pushed into our post box, no envelope, no note, nothing, just miraculous provision.

When we become Christians, we are told to ‘walk in the spirit’, but that doesn’t require that we remove our brains!  God’s plan for us is that we become mature and perfect, lacking nothing.  God’s plan for us, His people, is that we have life skills, that we have wisdom, that in our every day ordinary lives, we glorify Him.  God’s plan for us, is that by His wisdom, we are role models to the world, that they seek our advice.

When I look into God’s word, I am not really too interested about the meaning of the third toe on the foot of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream!  My husband loves those types of studies and I can see they are interesting, but when I look into God’s word, I want to know how can I live a victorious, joyful, overcoming life for Jesus today.   How can I avoid depression, unforgiveness?  How can I raise my teenage son?  How can I keep my marriage happy and passionate?  How can I walk closer with Jesus?  How can I be a testimony today?

“Every part of scripture is God breathed and useful one way or another- showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.  Through the word, we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.” 2 Tim 3.16. The Message.