Yesterday was Wednesday, church day, long day, insane day. It's on this day every week that wild things happen during the day. I'm assuming its just a feeble attempt to keep me off my game for ministry in the evenings. But so far the day was going super smooth. The boys finished school by 11 and I was in the thick of an awesome lunch- sloppy joes and oven baked fries. From scratch. I had just put the buttered buns in the oven to toast when I knelt down to show sweet Jere boy a glimpse of the French fries. He got really excited but not about my fries. He was more interested in the FIRE blazing at the bottom of the oven- the one attached to my pot holder that was also in the bottom of the oven.
What?!? If anyone else had been in the house I would have blamed them. Because there's no possible way that I did something that cool, right? I immediately opened the oven and stared at the flames. Here's where it gets weird. I froze. I had no idea what to do. I grabbed two metal utensils and pulled the burning potholder out of the bottom, letting it rest on the glass- full blaze. I yelled for one of the older boys to help with Jere, just as the smoke detector decided to kick in. And then I really couldn't think. I kept trying to smother it out with a metal spoon with no success. Finally my 10 year old filled a bowl with water and brought it to me, one dunk in the liquid and the fire was out. Ridiculous.
Until this day I would have sworn to you that I totally knew all the right things to do in such a moment. But in my desperation I forgot it- all of it. And then the Holy Spirit started whispering to my heart. "You think you know by you have no idea." That doesn't just apply to MTV celebs. My mind was immediately flooded with memories of Girl Scouts and fire training. Where had all of those street smarts gone?? Why had I turned so lame? There's a difference between wisdom and smarts. Wisdom takes root in your heart- it doesn't matter how much book knowledge you have if you can't draw on it in a practical way.
The same goes for the Word. Wisdom comes by soaking in God's character. It's not enough to memorize the words or read until we're blue in the face. True wisdom comes when we seek God's heart and pray for ours to change, to transform, to pattern after His.
It's so easy to try and put out the "fires" in life with our head smarts. But it's wisdom that we need. It's wisdom and Truth that the world around us craves- even if they don't know it yet.
How many crispy pot holders do you have hanging around? Happy Thursday :)
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