By wisdom a house is built...

I’ve heard it said “youth is wasted on the young, when they have no wisdom how to use it and wisdom is wasted on the old when they don’t have the energy to act on what they know.” I never really liked the saying because it just comes across as fatalistic and pessimistic, but in truth it is how many people play out their lives. When they are young and full of energy they blindly follow their heart and the wisdom of life seems to elude them, and when wisdom finally catches up to them they feel too old to ‘go at it again’ and settle into a “I’ve done my time” mentality, simply wishing they had done their time better. I’m trying to fight this pattern in my life in two ways. One is I want to never see myself as too old to change or to pick myself up and try again. Life is short and I hope that as long as I am alive I will have the heart to keep on keeping on. I don’t think we should retire from life, ministry, or service. I hope that I will continue to be effective for the kingdom of God until the day I die. If you go into marriage knowing that divorce is not an option when you hit walls you don’t run away but instead you work things through. I’m trying to face my life of ministry the same way. I don’t want to do ministry until it gets hard or until I get tired, I want to be able to look back on my life and like Paul say “I’ve fought the good fight.” This doesn’t mean that I am expecting to be a youth pastor in the same church for the rest of my life (although I would not argue if this is where God chose to keep me) but it does mean that if I ever move I want it to be God who moves me. I want to always be in the ministry where God has placed me and I never want to walk away from that ministry because of my own reasons or desires. The second way I am fighting the pattern is I am trying my best to spend a lot of these early years in my life learning from the wisdom of others so I don’t look back and say “what a wasted youth.” One of my goals in life is to be the type of person who doesn’t have to go through a trial or hardship to learn a lesson for myself. If I can learn from the mistakes of others or if I can learn a truth and apply it before it becomes a mistake in my life I think I will make great strides toward getting wisdom in my life now. I want my life to reflect what the Proverbs say, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”^[1]

My prayer: Lord when I am young give me the wisdom of the old and when I am old give me the energy of the young.

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^[1]The Holy Bible : English Standard Version., Pr 24:3-6 (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001).