What is it?

Looking through my journals and email, I found out that I was wishing for a lot of good things to happen. I claimed to be “hoping,” but I did not/could not be confident the desired outcome would happen. That is not what hope is about. Hope is more than wishing. [Want to know more? Click here.]

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Thirty Sterling Principles, Part 11


Today’s principle, #20, spoke to me about what it means to have a healthy, happy, stable home. It’s based on Proverbs 24:3-4, which says,
“It takes wisdom to build a house,
    and understanding to set it on a firm foundation;
It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms
    with fine furniture and beautiful draperies.”
The key elements are wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. Those are the same things that God told us about for living successful lives. Those are the same things that we are told elsewhere in Proverbs come about because we focus on God and His Word and ways.
I have tried to live a wise life, one filled with understanding and knowledge. In some ways I succeeded and have adult children who are independent, self-reliant, and successful in their endeavors. I’ve talked about them before. However, there is always room for improvement.
I can’t depend on the wisdom I’ve had in the past. I have to keep trying to learn and seek God’s wisdom in my daily life. I strive to use understanding in my dealings with the people who live in my house although sometimes I just don’t understand what is going on and don’t know how to gain the understanding needed in some situations. Sometimes all I can do is throw up my hands, fall to my knees and pray that God would show me what to do. Even when I’m thinking I’m doing or saying the right things, I sometimes find out that I am not.
Again, there are many situations that come up where I just have to rely on God’s grace and His protection to furnish my house with the right furniture and furnishings. In other words, to make my house the right environment and atmosphere for raising healthy children and maintaining my own sanity I need to turn to God and ask Him for His guidance. I wish I could say I do this with knowledge and wisdom. However, many times I have to backtrack and change the way I’m doing things so they get in line with God’s ways of doing things. Ultimately, all true wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are centered on God’s ways of doing things. I just don’t know what the right ways are all the time. So I have to ask for forgiveness from God and other people, and change my approach to do things the right way the next time.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I feel the same about having a desire to learn more about God and His plan for us. So much knowledge can be found through the scriptures. I try to read them daily, but it doesn't always happen, but I do try. When I am able to read them a lot of peace enters into my life. What helps you the most to find His peace in your life? A lot of times I feel like I am doing the right things, only to find out later that I am not. What are some things that you do to make sure that you are on the right path at all times?

Mary B. Grimm said...

I rely on godly counsel from godly people in my life. However, I still, like you, find that I don't always make the right decisions and sometimes fail to do the right thing.

I don't think we will always be on the right path at all times. But we can learn from our mistakes and try to make better decisions the next time we find ourselves in tricky situations.