Waiting Up for Wisdom

Let’s finish up chapter 8 of Proverbs:

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For blessed are those who keep my ways.  33  Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.  34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.  35 For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord;  36 But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”

Have you noticed how repetitious these first eight chapters of Proverbs have been?  We have been reading the same themes over and over again.  Why?  Because we need to hear things over and over again before we become convinced of the truth of what we are hearing.  We desperately need to be reminded of the value of wisdom.

The aspect of wisdom I want to highlight this morning is the idea of “waiting” on wisdom.  In verse 34 we read that blessed is the man who listens to wisdom and who watches daily at her gates and who waits at the posts of her doors.  In our “microwave” generation, we tend to want wisdom and we want it now.  But I know now something that I wish I had learned 20 years ago…wisdom takes time.  We cannot rush wisdom.  There are things relating to wisdom that you just will not and cannot know at age 25 that you can know at age 50.  Yes, the truth is available but if we are honest with ourselves, we just don’t often “get it” at 25.  We need to wait for wisdom.  The receipt of wisdom requires patience.  It requires waiting.  We cannot “rush” wisdom.  It doesn’t come in the overnight mail…rather, it often seems like it comes via Pony Express.  But it does come.  And when we wait for wisdom and then when we follow wisdom, we will be blessed.

In wisdom,
Eric