Conflict, Consensus, and Foolishness

Jeremiah 17:5-9
5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

The message of this passage ties in very much with what I read in 1 Kings the other day. Rehoboam turned from the Lord and consulted with his peers. All together, they came up with a plan of action on how Rehoboam should rule the Israelites: with an iron fist. Well, things turned out poorly and Rehoboam lost the throne. Wait, what's going on? Even though the majority agreed upon an idea, they were wrong? Yes, they were wrong. In fact, they were fools.

Here's the problem: they listened to the wisdom of man and not the Lord's. As it says in 1 Corinthians 3:19 "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";". Ultimately, we're a bunch of sad and pathetic fools who know a lot less than we think we do. We are people of pride and 'wisdom', which in reality is a boat of foolishness.

This happens so often when we find ourselves in tight situations. We rely upon our own 'wisdom' to get us out of situations. We use our logic to dig ourselves out of holes, to recover and set our feet upon solid group. We compromise God's commands for our perceived best interest as we listen to our hearts. However, in Jeremiah 17:9, God describes our hearts as deceitful beyond cure! Knowing that our hearts are deceitful, how then can we listen to it?

Listen to the Lord. He is truly wise. Not only so but this passage also notes that those who listen to the Lord and find their confidence in Him are blessed. When in a pinch and in a hectic situation, don't listen to your heart but seek guidance from the Lord.

I think a classic example of this is David (before he became king) while he was running away from Saul. He had the opportunity to take matters into his own hands and kill Saul as they were unknowingly in the same cave. David realized the foolishness of living outside the will of God and wisely abided by the command not to murder. While this did not end his problem as Saul foolishly pursued David pretty much until death, David honored the Lord through his circumstances. Not only so, but we also see that God delivered David, killed Saul, and placed David on the throne.

The Lord alone is wise. Here's the cool part though. He offers us his wisdom.
James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James goes on even further in James 3:17 to describe such wisdom in that the "wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere."