"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.
For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better
than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire
compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are
riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who
hold her fast. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He
established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the
skies drip with dew. My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep
sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul and
adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely and your
foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you
lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of
the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; for the LORD will be your
confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. -- Proverbs 3:13-27

Wisdom and understanding has always intrigued me when it is talked about
in the Bible. Reading the above scripture it appears to provide restful
sleep, elimination of fear, provision financially, protection from evil,
not necessarily the affects of evil upon us by others, but evil entering
our lives, that we might not get caught up in it, captured by it, stumble
on it, or partake of evil ways. And although we may find ourselves in the
midst of evil affects, we are not affected by it as the enemy would like
as Psalms 23 says. It also provides long life, peace, joy, honor,
discretion and security in life. To me it seems that to seek wisdom and
understanding along with knowledge, that it cuts to the chase of
challenges in all the areas listed above  which are challenges of many
folks today, myself included. I've noticed as well that where wisdom is
mentioned, nearly always you will find understanding mentioned as well,
and many times knowledge is listed among them. I know in my own life I
tend to feel uneasy if there are too many loose ends lying around,
scattered knowledge or a lack of tangible action. Some due to my own
credit, and some are due to circumstances or situations, or things I can
not control. Whatever the case, doesn't it seem to just bring a peace
about you when you pray, read God's word and find hope in God's word
towards those things in life? Even if the hope one finds is hope itself
that things will be physically, mentally emotionally, financially or
situationally better soon, if not right today, they will be. And if we
follow the wise words of Proverbs, acquiring knowledge, wisdom and
understanding, we will walk securely, with peace and joy. Wouldn't it be
nice however if we could read in Proverbs 32:1 "Wisdom cries from the
streets saying "Pick up your coat and move to another city and find there
the gifts God has waiting for you", or maybe more specifically "Brad, for
thy earnings, go into the city and buy and sell more for ten months, then
sell all you have and move from that city to the one located at the bottom
of the big river".". Wouldn't it be nice if we had specific written
instruction to follow so we knew without a doubt where we are to be led
during challenges of life? But if we had such, we'd not acquire wisdom and
understanding by learning to recognize it in between the printed lines of
life, but merely follow it mindlessly. Perhaps it could be likened to
someone grabbing your arm and whisking you  from Point A to Point B as
opposed to you walking along  side them having to pay attention to your
surroundings and pathway so you know your  path back. Similarly
as  feeding one a meal  of fish is not as good as teaching one to fish,
that they may eat for a lifetime rather than just one day, such teaching
of wisdom as it might apply in our modern lives helps us draw nearer to
God. Sort of like  someone  whispering something to you from across the
room. What is our natural reaction? To quiet our mouth, quiet those things
around us, lean in and lend our ear as close to the source of the voice as
we possibly can that we can hear what is being said. Whatever our
situation in life,  it seems that peace  is the evidence of wisdom's path
in our lives. Have you ever gotten disorientated be it walking a familiar
path, caught up in thought or distraction and found you are no longer on
your familiar path? Nothing seems familiar to you and you feel a bit lost?
And how peaceful, reassuring or comforting is it to find you've made it
back to that familiar path after searching and searching for that familiar
landmark that says you are back on track. Be it lost while
walking  downtown with your cane or dog, or  driving in a car in
unfamiliar highway, we find the value of the peace of wisdom's path.
During those times however when we are searching for that landmark, that
familiar benchmark, it is important to know we have confidence in the Lord
that he is watching us and we are  much more lost in our own thoughts than
in reality. It doesn't always seem as such, but that is where we

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your
paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn
away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your
bones." -- Proverbs 3:5-9

The ultimate tangible peace is recognizing the trust in God and leaning
not on our own understanding, as that familiar  landmark that assures us
we are alright. It seems almost contradictory as we are to use wisdom and
understanding for discernment to guide us in life, but it is the absence
of peace that is the true guide whether we are with God or off the path he
is leading no matter if we are traveling by the discernments provided by
wisdom given us, or in the midst of those times of trust when we haven't a
clue which direction to turn in life.  Recently we  talked about songs, of
which "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" was mentioned, trust in God  could be
likened to such a bridge. A bridge, a solid path of trust is provided when
we run across dips in life that would otherwise leave us without footing.
We trust the bridge we are walking on, be it the Golden Gate, Mackinaw,
some Interstate Bridge, or a foot bridge over a small creek in YourTown
USA, , will hold us up until we get to the other side of the dip or water.
Such is the trust in God in life.

Brad