By Brother Stephen Rankin
I grew up eating pot roast often on Sundays after worship. Mom would chop the potatoes, carrots and onions and throw them into the pot, put the chuck roast in on top, set the oven at 350˚, and off we’d go to church. Four hours or so later, when we arrived home, boy, did we enjoy the meal!
The thing about a pot roast is that it needs to cook slow. With all the cool kitchen gadgetry these days, I’m sure there are faster ways to make a pot roast, but still, some foods just need slow cooking to be really good.
Wisdom is like a slow-cooked meal. There is no such thing as instant wisdom. To develop godly perspectives and responses, based squarely on “the fear of the Lord,” takes time. In some ways, it takes a lifetime.
In Proverbs 8, we find wisdom characterized as a woman: “Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?” She calls “On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads, she takes her stand.” Wisdom comes to us as we live, as we travel “on the road.” Wisdom comes to us step by step, one day at a time, as we learn to listen to wisdom’s voice.
We find wisdom along the road, so to speak, as we journey through daily life. This is why gaining wisdom takes time, like that slow-cooked meal. God’s wisdom works in surrendered hearts on the road, on the journey, in situations that present themselves along the way. Like Christian’s arduous trek toward the Celestial City in Pilgrim’s Progress, if we yield to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, we find guidance toward the good, the joyful, and ultimately to the fullness of the Father’s love. Through wisdom, we recognize distractions that tempt us to leave the path. We avoid some mistakes and missteps along the way.
1 Corinthians 1:24 says that Jesus is the wisdom and power of God. I can testify to the truth of this word. Lately, I’ve had reason to reflect on the moment I said yes to Christ as a seventeen-year-old about to graduate from high school, fifty-two years ago. I’ve been walking with Jesus a long time. My life would have been a shambles without him. He has guided my path. He has shared his wisdom. It has taken a long time and there are miles yet to go.