What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day?
What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?
Would you believe me?
Hi, I’m BJ Sipe – and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast.
I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father.
Thanks for tuning in!
I have spoken about my children many times on this podcast, seeing as my they are an endless source of material. If you have children of your own, I know that you can attest to that fact for yourself as well. Some of the greatest lessons that we can learn are from our children, both good and, well, not so good sometimes. Today my son gave us one of those lessons that I want to share with you. This year has been the year of new kitchen gadgets in our house as we have ventured into trying new things. Kylie has gotten many different things – a bread maker to make homemade recipes for loaves or rolls (both of which are amazing); a soup frother (or something like that, basically so she can make things like butternut squash soup); and last but not least, an air fryer. We’re kind of behind the times on the whole air fryer thing, which has become in many American homes used more often than even the microwave. Since finally getting on the bandwagon, it has changed the way that we cook so many things. Want to cook biscuits? Don’t worry about preheating the oven anymore, just throw them in the air fryer. Want to fry up some chicken? Forget the stove top, throw it in the air fryer. It’s fast. It’s no mess. It’s delicious.
But…it’s also very hot. That’s a lesson that my son learned the hard way today. I was sitting here at my coffee shop getting my work done when my wife sent me a picture of my son with his hand all wrapped up in an ace bandage, with the caption, “Your son learned an important lesson today.” Of course, I immediately responded, “What happened? Is he okay?” He is going to be okay, and she proceeded to share the story with me. Apparently Kylie had been cooking lunch for the kids this afternoon, and she had just pulled the basket out of the air fryer and placed it on the stovetop to start dishing out lunch. As she was grabbing plates from the cupboard, Dane snuck up beside her and apparently wanted to see what was for lunch. Despite our constant warnings time and time again to him about “don’t touch anything on the stove” that warning fell on deaf ears. On his tippy toes he reached up and over into the air fryer basket, and promptly burned his hand on the 300 degree F interior.
Go figure, Mom & Dad have rules there for a reason – and many times they are for our children’s own protection. The rules are put in place to prevent them from doing things like my son did today so that they don’t get hurt. They are clearly communicated on a regular basis, and there is no misunderstanding about our warnings or expectations with something as straight forward as, “Don’t ever touch the stove or anything on the stove”. Now, it is simply up to them as to whether or not they heed our warnings. Unfortunately for my son, today he decided to learn the hard way, rather than just trusting that Mom & Dad had his best interests in mind. Hopefully his minor injury he sustained will burn a permanent memory into his mind, and deter him from ever doing it again.
Have you ever heard someone say something to the effect of, “Well, sometimes we just have to learn lessons the hard way.” I understand the sentiment behind the statement, which basically states that sometimes the lessons we learn are not until after we have suffered the consequences. That is very true. But I want to challenge the premise…do we have to learn some lessons the hard way? Today we want to open up to the book of Proverbs, where we want to read an extensive excerpt from chapter 1. In vv. 20-33, wisdom is personified as calling out in the public markets and streets for all to hear, and yet what we encounter in this text is it’s warnings fall on deaf ears, and lessons are learned the hard way. Let’s read this passage together:
“Wisdom calls out in the street; she makes her voice heard in the public squares. She cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates: “How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge? If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words. Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention, since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction, I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you. Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me. Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the Lord, were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction, they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes. For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”
There are so many things that we can glean from this text, but I want to simply focus on one for us to dwell on. And that very simply is this: we don’t have to learn things the hard way, rather sometimes we choose to. That is the sad reality that we see through the personification of wisdom we just read. The message is clear – wisdom calls out in the streets and her warnings are fully understood. But her message is not listened to. Actually, the message is completely neglected and even mocked. Those who received the warnings from wisdom decided that they knew better themselves, they hated knowledge and did not fear the Lord, and as a result they suffered the consequences. Would they learn their lesson? The text indicates that they did, but by then it was far too late. They would suffer the consequences of their actions, consequences that could have been avoided if they had simply listened to instruction.
Consider the very last line of the text once again: “But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.” The point is this: we don’t have to learn lessons the hard way. We have a choice in the matter, and that choice is to fear God and trust him above our own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6). My son did not have to touch the air fryer to learn the lesson not to touch the stove, he very well could have simply listened to the wisdom of his parents and trusted what we clearly told him. In the same way, we do not have to sin or fall to temptation to understand that God’s way is the best way, we could very well simply listen to the wisdom of our heavenly Father and trust what he has clearly told us. So, the question that remains for us is this: how do you want to learn the lessons that God is seeking to teach us? Through faith? Or the hard way? I don’t know about you, but I sure hope to be the kind of child of God that chooses to simply take Him at his word.
Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Thursday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for future announcements or even some special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, share it with someone else that you think would benefit from it also. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.
