Is a wind still a wind when not a breeze will blow?
Is a stream still a stream when its waters cease to flow?
Is a fire still a fire when there’s nothing left to burn?
Is the wise still the wise when they never want to learn?
Here’s a universal truth. No one likes to be stupid. (And you may quote me on that.) We prefer to live in a wise way, making the best decisions and choosing the right paths. But wisdom is not static. It requires continued learning, whether from our own efforts and mistakes or from those of others. For example…..
In a noisy coffee house, a man talks to himself as he works away on his laptop. Suddenly he notices it is deathly quiet and looks around to see everyone staring at him. A few turn away in indignation while others burst out laughing. The embarrassed man quickly closes his computer and hurries out. What did he learn? Never read out loud for others to hear…the Subject lines of incoming email.
Now you may find that funny, but did you learn anything? OK, don’t carelessly read out loud, but anything else? What about being mindful of those around you? All right there’s that. What about spam filters? Should we have one or not and what settings should we use? How about this: Can we rely on that filter to do what is best for us?
Isn’t it amazing how once we look at something a little deeper, we may get some answers but there are often more questions. It isn’t as simple as we first thought. There’s more to learn. And if we gain some knowledge but stop our learning, do we really understand what’s going on? And what in the world does this have to do with a Note of Encouragement anyway? Well, check this out.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13, NKJV) This verse is a great passage of assurance, hope and faith, yet also one of the most misunderstood. Why? Because we tend to stop learning what it all means. We look at the surface, have an experience that seems to validate it, and then think that’s all there is. But every day, we learn there’s more to learn.
At first our attention is drawn to “I can do”. We struggle with this, especially when we look at our lives and find failure. Nothing has worked, everything’s a dead end. So God teaches us that we are important. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16) God does not live in useless things.
We see “all things” and ask, How can this be? Then we notice something about Christ “who strengthens me”, but there are just more questions. I’ve been praying, I’ve been doing, but why hasn’t something happened? So God teaches us from whom the power comes and for what it is used. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him… (Romans 8:28)
God gives us those opportunities to gradually learn what His promise in Philippians means. We move from self-doubt to the humility that comes with understanding, as the Apostle Paul discovered, it is not I but the grace of God that was in me (1 Corinthians 15:10). Yet there is still more to learn.
Two words: “through Christ”. Before computers, the Internet, email or spam…God gave us our own filter to prevent the wrong from existing with the right, to block the bad from interfering with the good, to provide what is best for us…and what those around us need to hear, witness and experience.
We really can do everything through Jesus who gives us the strength, if we will learn what this means:
I, ____________________, live in the love of God who lives in me, and can do all that is good in love, encouragement, prayer, forgiveness, mercy, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness and humility, because it will be done and all be done by the power and strength of God, through the message of His Son, and in accordance with His perfect will which I adopt as my own.
Will you dare, out loud or in your heart, make this claim using your own name? If you’re brave enough, let me know. We cannot be wise if we do not learn, and there is so much to learn. May the strong wind of the Spirit, the living stream of the Son, and the holy fire of the Father grow in you always. Take care and be God’s,
Chuck Graham