Divine wisdom in everyday wonders

 

Proverbs 30:18-33

Proverbs 30 is a collection of sayings from a man named Agur. Who don't know who he was. He and his father are only mentioned in Proverbs 30:1. It could be that their names are symbolic. For today's reading, though, let's assume Agur is someone like you and me. He opens the chapter with this: Surely I am too stupid to be human;     I do not have human understanding. I have not learned wisdom,     nor have I knowledge of the holy ones (30:2-3). That seems a bit drastic. Was Agur having a bad day? Or was he overstating his humility? Whatever the case, Agur's wisdom shines through the rest of the chapter. I remember a sermon series I did once on Job. For several weeks we considered what Job and his friends said and the wisdom we could glean from them. We noticed that God doesn't answer Job's every complaint. It takes several chapters before God speaks to Job. The comment I made about God's response was: It turns out, God's a tree hugger. What I meant was that God responded to Job by highlighting the natural world. Read Job 38 and listen for the mention of the stars, the sea, the clouds and the dawn. Snow, hail, lightning and the east winds all get a mention. Likewise, Agur counters his confession of stupidity with a look at nature. Knowingly or not, he patterns his wisdom the way God did with Job. He also alludes to several human aspects of life. But most of his reflection centers on the way of animals in God's world. And that makes sense. Agur wasn't distracted by Netflix, the NFL or the latest BOGO deal. Who knows how many books or writings he had available to him? In the absence of an abundance of information, he could always look to nature for God's wisdom. That same world is open to us to learn from today. Of course, read and study what others have learned. But take a walk outside and see what you notice there, too. On your drive to church, pay attention to what the world can teach you about God's goodness and the beautiful life the Lord gave us. Stay blessed...john