“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled);
then it is peace loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). It is willing to yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits: it is wholehearted and straight forward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity).
James Chapter 3 Verse 17
in the Amplified Bible
I went to a wonderful Women’s Retreat this past weekend. The weather was great, my room mate was even greater, and the Speaker gave one of the best messages I’ve ever heard. What has stuck with me the deepest however, is the lesson that I learned through watching the Lord work out a situation that truly had the potential to ruin everything.
The Retreat was being held in a local Hotel. The place in which our group of women met was a big room separated by partitions. We met there Friday evening, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon, all without incidence. Saturday evening however, was different. The service started out the same, with announcements and then worship. After that our Speaker would come up and begin teaching.
Well, somewhere between the end of our worship time and the beginning of our teaching time, everything in our room began to be “drowned out.” Without warning, we were overtaken by a very loud DJ playing very loud music in the room on the other side of the folding partition. At first we all tried to ignore it. We very quickly figured out that wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t only that we could hear each and every beat of the music, but it was so loud that we could “feel” every beat of it also.
I was sitting in the back of the room as this all began to take place, so I was farthest from our Speaker and closest to the music. I watched as the women in our room reacted with a variety of responses. Some of them came to the back of the room and began to “lay hands” on the partition and pray towards the room where the music was coming from. One of the women stood up and “stormed” out and a few others followed. I could hear as some of the women complained out loud. Our Speaker began to speak louder in an effort to be heard. I found myself leaning forward in my seat, straining very hard to hear what she was saying.
Three thoughts went through my head. The first one was that the people on the other side of the partition had just as much right to be there doing what they were doing as we did to be there doing what we were doing. My second thought was that it was pretty poor planning on the part of the Hotel Management, to place a Christian Women’s Retreat and an eighteenth Birthday Party next to each other. That made absolutely no sense to me. My third thought was that no matter how many hands were being laid on that partition, I was pretty darned certain that the music was not going to stop. So, I just sat there quietly and watched.
All of this went on for a good ten to fifteen minutes without any change. Then I saw a woman go up to the woman who was in charge over the whole event, and pull her quietly aside. After that several women began to direct the women who were sitting, to stand and to move their row of chairs forward. I soon understood what they were doing. Our whole group was being moved towards the upper half of the room. The “lower” half of our room was being closed off by a sliding partition. That additional partition had been there inside of our room the whole time. It was just that nobody had really noticed it before any of this had taken place.
We simply closed the partition and put another whole “room” space between us and the room holding the Birthday Celebration. It was wonderful. All of a sudden we could again hear everything that was being said. Not only that, but there was an added sense of intimacy which began to develop as we pulled in closer together. There was a deep sense of celebration and victory that could be felt as we once again began to surrender our hearts, minds and bodies in worship and praise to the Lord.
As I sat there and pondered at what had just taken place, I could feel my spirit being stirred. I realized that the Lord had answered the prayers of those women who had been praying. Even though I had thought it a bit “silly” to see those women lay hands on a partition, I found out that the Lord had not. He had answered their prayers. He had answered their prayers by giving them wisdom. You see, the “answer” to our problem had been there all along in the form of that second partition, but none of us had seen it. It only became “visible” to us in answer to those prayers.
What a tremendous lesson I learned that evening. I began to think of how many times I had been just like those women in their variety of responses that evening. At times I have been caught “off guard” or completely surprised by something that has taken place in my life. There have been times in my own life in which I too, have been known to suddenly stand up and “storm” out… in an effort to change something by reacting in some type of “old” behavior pattern. Other times I have simply sat and complained. Sometimes I have done exactly what I did that night. I have quietly sat by and watched as others took the initiative to pray, and then even doubted as they did. Still other times I have tried to become “louder” than that which was bothering me, whether it happened to be a situation that I was dealing with at the time… or a person.
I suddenly realized how very much I still have to learn. I could only be thankful that the Lord had not given up on me long before. I felt humbled… and reassured at the same time. Humbled by my lack of faith and discernment, and reassured by the measure of Jesus’ love for me. I knew that if He was still teaching me that He wasn’t done with me. How grateful I am for the Lord’s patience and grace.
I have once again been reminded to trust in the Lord with all of my heart and to lean not on my own understanding. So many times the Lord will rescue us by giving us the wisdom that we need in a given situation. Sometimes there is wisdom in staying quiet. In the situation that I spoke of above, there was action required on our part. Other times wisdom means taking no action at all… even when (or perhaps especially when) we want to take it. Only the Lord knows exactly what we need in each and every situation that takes place in our lives. Only He can give us the wisdom that can “turn” a situation around. Only He can give us the wisdom and direction of how to handle something without hurting or offending others. He is our Savior… and on many occasions it is ourselves and our own actions from which He saves us. I’d like to close with this verse:
“If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God (Who gives)
to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding,
and it will be given to him. Only it must be in faith that he asks
with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea
that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.”
James 1:5 and 6
Written by Beverley A Napier on August 9, 2011
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