Down the Line

James 1:5-6 – If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (NIV)

The fence around our daughter's yard had been going up nicely, but now there was a problem. The section we were working on would not line up properly. Though it was at ground level at the previous post, it was several inches above ground by the next. We tried digging a trench, thinking the ground was uneven. We tried pulling the wire down. We tried readjusting it on the previous post. No luck. Finally I stood and looked back down the entire fence line and immediately saw the problem. One of the previous sections was on an incline, and it was at this point that the adjustment needed to be made to correct the fault, which was now showing up several sections later.

At times, looking to the past, when things seem out of whack in our lives during the present, has also offered us similar wisdom.

Previous sin on our part, or on the part of others against us, can be, at times, so subtle as to go unnoticed. Over a period of time, however, that past sin can begin to wreak its havoc in the present, both physically and mentally, and, though we are not aware of it or its potential effects, it is apparent to God, who, for the asking, is willing to grant us present-day wisdom concerning the past problem. This wisdom, when followed, gets our lives back in line with Him, ourselves, and others.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your wisdom, which is available to us for the asking. Thank you that you give it freely and generously. Strengthen us to want to ask, and then to accept it, to apply it, and to follow it in our lives, that they might be straight and true for Jesus, in whose wonderful name we pray. Amen.

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