Now having my quiet time with God in McDonalds... thank God that I have hearing aids tt i can turn off... so it literally becomes a 'quiet time'... =)

Was reading Proverbs 4, and trying to make sense of it... wat is God speaking to me through this passage?

So used the passage as a 'mirror' onto my life as it is right now... prayed and asked God what areas of my life does He want to hilight... or just anything lah.

Thank God for Dehua's teaching on how to do inductive bible study... one very useful principle for me was to see what is the overall picture of the passage... so applied this principle to Prov 4, with prayer too...

So after studying Prov 4, realised it's on the importance of wisdom... the heading "Wisdom is supreme" essentially sums up the overall picture of the passage.

Then thank God, while I was using that overall picture as a 'mirror' to reflect on my life and my ways... He strongly impressed on my heart that while i'm going through a period where as i'm serving Him in a more challenging capacity... and feel increasingly inadequate, He told me that yes, He knows how I feel. But He brought to my attention Prov 4:7...

"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding."

Think God is speaking to me clearly through this passage that it's not just about serving Him, but He also desires me to grow in wisdom too. And these challenging situations are part of His ways to teach me more wisdom. But He told me that I must keep on putting in all my best efforts, my energy, my time to study, review, reflect, evaluate and make sense of the experiences that I go thru daily.

It is confirmed going to be very hard work... harder even more after a long day's work when I don't feel like reflecting on my experiences or studying the Bible or praying... but God tells me that though it costs me all my energy, all my strength.. all my money (e.g. spending it on good books or workshops or seminars or even taxi rides after staying longer to discuss with my shepherd...) or time... or my pride... whatever else... get wisdom no matter how much it costs me personally!

anyway, it's good to sell off my pride to get wisdom...

God to me: "Surrender your pride. Deal or no deal?" :D

Because the wisdom tt He gives has so much benefit, both tangible and intangible, tt it's simply idiotic not to get this divine bargain.


Then I asked God, "How to get wisdom?"

And immediately, my eyes fell upon verse 10: "Listen, my son..." Ah! God is telling me: "Listen! That is the way to start getting wisdom. Just open your ears to listen to what I have to say."

"Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
I guide you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths."

What I learnt from this passage is that in order to get wisdom, God wants me to:
1. Listen to what He says
2. Accept what He says.

Also, I learnt that He hasn't left us alone to go and find wisdom... He is a good Father, and He has been actively guiding me in the way of wisdom and leading me.

As I pondered on this verse, I remembered my past 10 years as a Christian, and realised that yes, it's very true, God has been faithfully guiding me in the way of wisdom and leading me along straight paths. There were so many paths where I could have slipped and fallen off or fallen away, yet He was so kind to me.

And esp the period when I was looking for a job... I really thank God for Peter who taught me a lot of lifeskills and things to consider, both in what to look for in a job, and also the bigger purpose and direction tt a man should take in life. And hee, I'm enjoying some of the fruits of the wisdom that he's imparted to me... it really encourages me to work even harder to get more wisdom.

'Cos the Wisdom tt comes from God is a wonderful asset... it never depreciates in value... it always compounds, always appreciates! :D

So one application tt i want to put into practice... hmm...
I think for me I have to grow in desiring wisdom. That means praying constantly to God for more wisdom, and listening carefully to what I observe and receive from others...
Also, to practice daily using God's word to help me make sense of my experiences. This must be trained, and training is not easy - it's hard work and probably will give me a headache at first. Haha! But yah, Lord, I think i see the value in this. Hmm. I want to grow in wisdom, to be a wise man, a wise worker, and even a wise husband and father in future (if it's Your will for me LOL). In the wise name of Jesus, amen!