Choices

Proverbs 8 has always been one of my favorite things to read, especially when I am in the middle of making a decision between right and wrong, a choice that could really change my life for better or worse, mainly because the entire thing is about wisdom, God's and not mine, and it reminds me every time that everything I need to know, all that God is trying to protect me from and encourage me to choose is there if I chose to hear it.
Wisdom’s Call
1 Does not wisdom call out?
    Does not understanding raise her voice?
² At the highest point along the way,
    where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
³ beside the gate leading into the city,
    at the entrance, she cries aloud:
⁴ “To you, O people, I call out;
    I raise my voice to all mankind.
⁵ You who are simple, gain prudence;
    you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.^[a]
6 Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
    I open my lips to speak what is right.
⁷ My mouth speaks what is true,
    for my lips detest wickedness.
⁸ All the words of my mouth are just;
    none of them is crooked or perverse.
⁹ To the discerning all of them are right;
    they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
¹⁰ Choose my instruction instead of silver,
    knowledge rather than choice gold,
¹¹ for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹² “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
    I possess knowledge and discretion.
¹³ To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
    I hate pride and arrogance,
    evil behavior and perverse speech.
¹⁴ Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
    I have insight, I have power.
¹⁵ By me kings reign
    and rulers issue decrees that are just;
¹⁶ by me princes govern,
    and nobles—all who rule on earth.^[b]
17 I love those who love me,
    and those who seek me find me.
¹⁸ With me are riches and honor,
    enduring wealth and prosperity.
¹⁹ My fruit is better than fine gold;
    what I yield surpasses choice silver.
²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
    along the paths of justice,
²¹ bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me
    and making their treasuries full.

²² “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,^[c][d]
    before his deeds of old;
²³ I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water;
²⁵ before the mountains were settled in place,
    before the hills, I was given birth,
²⁶ before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth.
²⁷ I was there when he set the heavens in place,
    when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he established the clouds above
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he gave the sea its boundary
    so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
³⁰     Then I was constantly^[e] at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence,
³¹ rejoicing in his whole world
    and delighting in mankind.

³² “Now then, my children, listen to me;
    blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³ Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it.
³⁴ Blessed are those who listen to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway.
³⁵ For those who find me find life
    and receive favor from the Lord.
³⁶ But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
    all who hate me love death.

 

One of the reasons I love to read this is because it is the most beautiful description of what the wisdom in my life should look like.  That the choices that I make influence the person that I am and the person I will become.  That things that seem like a big deal, don't really have to be, they are much more simple than I like to make them.  That sometimes the small choices that I make are full of meaning, to love when someone is unlovable.  To set boundaries when something will not be to God's glory, to show my husband respect.  How to be wise with my words, my actions, my silence.  How to look at a situation and see it as I should and not how I want to. To be grateful for the ability to choose wisdom.

Because let's face it, in this life you make choice after choice after choice.  You won't always make the right one, and sometimes you won't want to make the right one.  But regardless, wisdom is there if you look for it, search it out, or even just read Proverbs 8.  The amazing thing about choices is that we have them.  That we can choose to use them as we wish, we can overcome the most amazing things if we chose light over darkness, if we decide to use the choices that we are given to better the lives of others, to make ourselves into the creatures we are capable of being, and to even in small ways affect other people and situations.

Wisdom is an amazing thing, it out weighs feelings, attitudes, and perspective. When used it can change a world that is hurting, or just a person that needs to hear the love and truth within it.

I pray for the wisdom described above, and that I choose to use it to the purpose God has set me to, regardless of what that might mean for me.  I wish that wisdom for you as well.

In love,

 

K