Insight for Living

Bill Meyer: Where do you turn when life stops making sense? Some of us reach for expertise, more education, more information, more voices weighing in. But what if the wisdom we're chasing can't be mined, purchased, or learned in any classroom? What if it comes from somewhere else entirely?

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll continues his study in the book of Job, guiding us toward priorities that anchor the soul when everything is shifting and pointing us to the one true source of the wisdom we so desperately need. We're in Job chapter 27.

Chuck Swindoll: Thinking God's thoughts is our highest goal. I've sometimes referred to this as thinking theologically, thinking biblically. That's why I'm such a proponent of scripture memory. You can never think more acutely God's thoughts than when you quote back to him or to life's situations God's word.

Think of Job's situation. He is bankrupt, he is childless, he is friendless, his body is covered with boils. He's living with a high fever, intense pain. He is misunderstood, he is blamed, he is rejected. How in the world does he go on? His view of God keeps him going, and not what others are telling him.

He recommits himself to things that matter. In a swirl of humanistic thinking, which he is given by the three friends, Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar, he's turned that off and he is now focused on the things of God. I love that kind of thinking. In fact, he says because he is so focused, he will not pad the record, he will not speak deceitfully, he will not tell them what is not true.

That brings us to the second priority. Go back to verse three: "As long as life is in me, and the breath of God is in my nostrils, my lips certainly will not speak unjustly, nor will my tongue mutter deceit. Far be it from me that I should declare you right. Till I die, I will not put away my integrity from me."

Second priority: Walking in integrity is the only way to live. The first: Thinking God's thoughts is our highest goal. The second: Walking in integrity is the only way to live. He won't skate, he won't fake it, he won't deceive them. He will not lie. He will tell them the truth.

What's the third priority? Realizing that wrong will not ultimately triumph. Realizing that wrong will not ultimately triumph brings us a sense of justice. What a relief that is, that the wicked are building houses of a spider's web. Verse 19: "He lies down rich, but never again. He opens his eyes, and it is no more." Riches don't hang around, do they? And when the wicked get rich, he says they will not ultimately triumph.

Rest assured, God knows. God keeps the right record. He knows what he's about. He knows who is righteous and who is wicked. He's keeping the score. Keep thinking straight. Keep forming priorities from the word of God. Spend less time in the papers and more time in the scriptures. Let God give you your agenda and help you think through how to interpret the events of our times.

Job now has begun to see it, and that leads him then to a subject that has been on in the back of his mind perhaps since the bottom dropped out of his life, and that's the subject of wisdom. Wisdom. So he begins to write in chapter 28, albeit poetically, so engineers, you won't enjoy it. He'll spend 14 verses coming to the point, but try your best to tolerate it, okay? This is beautiful writing, and he's building to a climax of a question. He just goes about it in a poetic way, and it's leading him toward his fourth priority.

"Surely there is a mine for silver and surely there is a place where they refine gold, and we've seen both. We know of both. Iron is taken from the dust, and copper is smelted from the rock. Man puts an end to darkness, and to the farthest limit, he searches out the rock in gloom and deep shadow." Describes him sinking shafts, verse four. "And from the earth, there's food above, and there's fire below, and the rocks," verse six, "are the source of sapphires."

This is beautiful poetry. "The dust contains gold, the path no bird of prey knows, nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it." That's the first hint. He's looking for something. It's wisdom. It's not in the earth. It's not in the ore. It's not in the copper. It's not in the gold. It's not in the skies. The falcon hasn't seen it, as high as he may fly.

He continues. "The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed over it." It's not out in the field where the beasts live. "He puts his hand on the flint, he overturns the mountains at the base, he hews out channels." This is man at work on this earth. "He hews out channels through the rocks. His eye sees anything precious. He dams up the streams from flowing, and what is hidden he brings out to the light. But, but where is wisdom? Where can wisdom be found and where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says it's not with me. The sea answers it is not with me. Even pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it."

Look at what he's saying. Dig into the earth, you'll find precious metals, but you won't find wisdom. Probe into the outer spaces and the mysteries will unfold, but you won't find wisdom. Study nature's wonders and all that this earth holds for you, and it will be exciting discoveries, but you won't find wisdom. This assures us that as helpful as an education is, or reading widely, or traveling broadly, or being mentored by the brightest, none of that will give you wisdom. Not found in textbooks, not found in discoveries, not found in inventions, not found in anyone else's mind.

Priority four: Seeking wisdom through human effort is a waste of time. It is a waste of time. By the way, it's a good time to stop and just give you the simple definition of wisdom. The word is used often in the wisdom literature of course, and need to define it on occasion. Wisdom, I believe, is looking at life from God's point of view. Looking at life as God sees it. That's why it's so valuable to think God's thoughts after him.

You look at children as God looks at them. You look at child-rearing as God considers child-rearing. You look at family as God looks at it. You interpret events as God would interpret them. You see the long view, you see the truth that is in even the midst of the lies. You see beyond the lie to what is really the truth is what I'm trying to say. So that's wisdom, looking at life from God's point of view.

Understanding is responding to life's challenges as God would have us respond. Not in panic, not in confusion, not losing our way, not giving up those things that are invaluable to us and the principles of integrity. We respond to life's challenges as God would have us respond. We trust him. We believe in him. Like our friend in China, we refuse to be afraid. We don't operate our lives according to human impulses.

As we'll read in this very chapter, God determines the length of our days, and so you don't have to be afraid of dying. Just be glad he doesn't tell you way ahead of time so you spend all your days wondering what it's going to be like. You don't know. I mean, he waits till the last second and then you're gone. So you don't have to worry about it. You can get a great night's sleep and then die that next morning, and you would have never gotten a good sleep if you'd have known that next morning you're going to die.

So he doesn't tell you about it. He has it determined. He doesn't go, "Oh, he died!" That's not the way he responds. He has you living and he then takes you from this earth, some in their 30s, some in their 40s, some in their 60s, some in their 90s. And it's God's calling, so you can take that plane ride. You can live your life. You can open your blinds and unlock your door and walk out into the sunlight, and you can live your life engaged with people, and you don't have to worry about some sinister force around every corner. God's in charge. What a great way to live.

You say, "Chuck, that sounds almost haphazard." Well, so be it. Haphazard, go after it. You're trusting in a sovereign God. You're not worried about it. I mean, I have people sit next to me on a plane, they're going through their beads. And I think, "Relax, relax. It's okay." I had one lady, I'd never met her, she said, "Would you hold my hand?" I said, "Yeah, that's fine." I looked around, made sure there wasn't some charter member in the church sitting there. I held her hand. I thought she was going to squeeze the blood out of it. It's like, "I just always hate the takeoffs."

And I said, "You know, it's going to be okay." "Well, I'll talk to you in a minute. Wait a minute." I thought, "Lady, get a shot. It's okay." We took off. She said, "Oh!" I said, "We really helped take off, didn't we?" She said, "That isn't very funny." I'm back there trying to keep the thing going. Relax. We've got a great God. And when he says it's over, it's over. That's all. No big deal. Life goes on.

That's how God wants us to look at life. Otherwise, we're not worth a toot. We're spending all our time worrying about whether if I go down to the store and there's going to be a terrorist at the store. There probably won't be, not the stores I go to. It'll just be the same old dull groceries. They'll be there. You just go do it. Relax. Relax. I don't get wisdom from people that grip my hand on a plane or feed me all that fear stuff. Does that mean I don't prepare? Of course, it doesn't. I love the old American revolutionary comment: "Trust in God, but keep your powder dry." Keep your gun loaded.

I'm getting really weird in this age of my life. Do I care? I do not care. Anyway, back to verse 20. "Where then does wisdom come from, and where is the place of understanding?" That's the question. Not where does opinion come from? I gave you 50 sources, most of them aren't worth listening to. But where does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?

Verse 23: "God understands its way. He knows its place. He looks to the ends of the earth. He sees everything under the heavens." Is that great or what? We see a little tiny slice like looking through a toilet paper roll. About that big. That's about all we see. I probably could have used another illustration, but you know what I'm talking about. It's about all we see. God has it all. He sees it all, and he isn't panicked. It's running its course exactly as he planned it. And his grace washes over all of us. Wonderful way to live.

Verse 26: "He's the one that sets the limit for the rain, and course of the thunderbolt. He saw it and declared it, established it and searched it out. And to man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.'" Wow. You can get four PhDs and never get that taught to you, even in the finest of universities. There's no course on the fear of the Lord. But you arise in the morning with this awesome respect for God and this hatred for sin, and it's amazing how you'll be able to see life as he wants you to see it and respond as he would have you respond. Begins with the fear of God. And to depart from evil is understanding.

Fifth priority: Cultivating a healthy and holy fear of the Lord gives us wisdom and understanding. There is a man in our congregation who has recently had brain surgery. The tumor in the frontal part of the brain of the cranium was pushing his brain back and taking his memory and it was growing. And I, because we're friends, I saw him at the hospital recently and he had the scar from his ear on one side across the top of his head to his ear on the other side, all with brads closing up the incision where they went in and took it all and he's doing great.

And he's laying there on the bed when I walk in. He breaks into a smile, and I realized that my going was a different reason than I'd thought. Because in going, I got wisdom, a touch of wisdom. He didn't get any from me, I got it from him. He spoke of the Lord from almost the moment we started our conversation to the end after about 15 minutes and I was gone. I mean, it was just the Lord and God and the Lord. It was the most natural kind of flow of conversation as he spoke of, I mean, it had been in his brain, and they'd taken that tumor out.

And just yesterday, while thinking about the wrap-up, I came across Eugene Peterson's introduction to Job from his paraphrase. Listen to what he said, it ties in. "Instead of continuing to focus on preventing suffering, which we simply won't be very successful at anyway, perhaps we should begin entering the suffering. Listen to me. Perhaps we should begin entering the suffering, participating in so far as we are able, entering the mystery of looking around for God.

In other words, we need to quit feeling sorry for people who suffer and instead look up to them. Learn from them, and if they will let us, join them in protest and prayer. Pity can be nearsighted and condescending. Shared suffering can be dignifying and life-changing. As we look at Job's suffering and praying and worshipping, we see that he has already blazed a trail of courage and integrity for us to follow."

That is so good. This man in the hospital didn't need pity, he needed respect. He has a leg up on wisdom on most of us. So when he speaks, it is with new insight about life and about responding to life's challenges. That's come from God through the channel of suffering. And here we are taught to fight it and to resist it and to run from it and even at times resent it, when in fact it is a messenger bearing the great news that brings wisdom to the submissive sufferer.

How much wiser you are today because you've hurt. And you've hurt the deepest are perhaps among our wisest. That's why we say we can never be young and wise. Why? Because life's circumstances haven't beaten us up and put scars on our heads and hurt us deeply.

Your assignment between now and when we meet again is to read Proverbs 8:22 to 36. Solomon personifies wisdom. It's beautiful the way he writes it. Proverbs 8:22 to 36 along with First Corinthians 1, which says as a climax: "Christ is to us wisdom." So entering into the wisdom comes through faith alone in Christ alone who leads us to God alone, and then the connection equips us for life.

Wisdom speaks in the personal pronouns. "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way, before his works of old. From everlasting I, that's wisdom, was established from the beginning from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no springs abounding with water before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth while he had not yet made earth and fields, nor the first dust of the world when he established the heavens, I was there."

Wisdom predates creation because it is in God. And as I get to know the living God through his word, his wisdom comes to me and I'm given a filter system I can never get any other place. And men and women, we become at that point effective witnesses, effective friends, insightful counselors. Because we don't just feel empathy, we see depth. And we don't feel pity, we feel respect, and we embrace the sufferer as our teacher rather than a victim of circumstances.

Let's bow our heads. There are times in my life I would just love to be able to put my arms around each one of you individually and say, "Do you get it? Have I been clear? Do you understand this? Do you realize the value of the scriptures? Do you understand the absolute importance of giving your life fully to Christ? To simply relinquishing your will and embracing his? Letting him have the worries and the burden and you take in return forgiveness and grace and mercy and love and peace and discernment, understanding, all spelling wisdom."

If you've never in your life trusted the Lord Jesus Christ's death at Calvary and glorious bodily miraculous resurrection believing that he's now alive having died for you, this is the moment. This is the place to start for you. Come today.

Thank you, Father, for the things that can be learned in ancient writings from Job's journal. Thank you for preserving it for us. Thank you for putting black print on white pages in a language we can understand. Thank you for capturing our attention by these surprising thoughts, like suffering being a friend rather than an enemy, like challenges in life being the opportunity to model an understanding rather than something to be afraid of or to resent, like the source of wisdom.

Forgive us for the wasted effort we've expended looking in the wrong places to find the right stuff. I pray, Lord, that today at this very moment you'd be working in hearts that cannot find any sense of peace and rest until they find it in your son Christ. I pray that you'd continue to work on them and work through others with them and then work in them to bring them to faith. That is the work of your spirit, that is your specialty, and I leave each one with you.

And now to him who is able to guard us from stumbling and to present us faultless—what a great thought—to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion, power, forever and ever and ever and ever. And all God's people said, amen.

Bill Meyer: Wisdom, that rare treasure we can't dig up or buy, given freely by the God who holds all things in his hands. What a gift to know that when we fear the Lord and turn from evil, he grants us eyes to see life the way he sees it.

This is Insight for Living. Chuck Swindoll titled today's message "A Recommitment to Things That Matter." Over the past several weeks, Chuck has been walking us through the Old Testament book of Job. It's a shocking portrayal of human suffering. If you're ready to learn more about Job's story or if you're looking for a creative way to guide your small group Bible study in lively discussion, we invite you to request the Searching the Scriptures Bible study workbook for this series. It's called Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance.

In fact, this Bible study is part of a bundle of resources Chuck Swindoll has prepared for you. The collection includes 22 sermons on CD; it contains the full message you heard today. Plus, the bundle includes Chuck Swindoll's full-length biography of Job. In his book, more than 300 pages in length, you'll read Chuck's meticulous expose of Job's story. Along the way, Chuck infuses practical application that equips you to deal with adversity of any kind.

Three powerful resources: the spiral-bound Bible study workbook, the full collection of sermons from Chuck, and his comprehensive biography of Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance. You can find all the details at insight.org/offer or call us at 800-772-8888.

Here's something else you'll enjoy: Chuck Swindoll recently sat down with financial expert and radio host Dave Ramsey for a candid conversation about money, legacy, and holding it all loosely. To check out the entire interview between Chuck and Dave, stop by this webpage: insight.org/conversations.

I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll presents what he calls the passionate testimony of an innocent man tomorrow on Insight for Living.