Falling Nation

The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him. When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing.The righteous person is rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead. With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed. Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers. Proverbs 11:1-14 NIV

There are many reasons why nations fall and civilizations cease to exist and most of those reasons are ensconced in those who lead without knowledge or wisdom and are so full of pride, they do not heed the advice of the wise, but choose to hear those who will tell them what they want to hear. And then they wonder why nothing is going right. When enemies see confusion and chaos, they strike and pursue victory because there is no wise counsel and people are subdued by the lack of leadership’s ability to make wise decisions.

It is not wise for anyone in leadership to mislead people about anything because sooner or later–truth will surface and they will be humiliated for all the world to see.

It is not wise for anyone in leadership to not have a relationship with truth and integrity and honor for these attributes will carry them to victory and without them, total desolation.

A wise leader seeks the wisdom of those who know more than they know and will heed their advice so they will appear wise.

A wise leader sets their pride aside and seeks knowledge through various avenues and knows how to rightly analyze all the information received.

A wise leader surrounds themselves with people who are wise, have integrity and honor, and will also do what is right for all.

But when wisdom is absent–things fall apart and in the midst of the chaos and confusion, trust is dismantled and the people began to stray outside the boundaries of safety for they do not understand where the boundaries of safety lie.

When people elect politicians with known racist ideas and then they promote them openly, not much will be accomplished since victory never resides within hate.

If we lived in a world in which there was no diversity, everyone looked the same, spoke the same language, believed the same and lived the same–the end of civilization would be inevitable for if God had wanted clones–He could have created them. Since He has established all of the diversity that exists–for the good of all mankind–we should respect His wisdom since He is wiser than we shall ever be.

When we cannot respect the Wisdom of God in all things—especially in accepting and loving all others–we set ourselves up for the failure of a nation and when nations fall, hope is futile.

Considering all we see on a daily basis–the lies about the lies perpetuated by the leadership in Washington and the hatred perpetuated by other members of congress, exactly what can we hope for?

While I can’t speak for others–my hope is in Christ Jesus and when the pillars of hatred and animosity and falsehoods crumble, there will be a remnant who can and will begin the process of rebuilding and refreshing with love and hope of a future with people united in the cause of forward movement, not backward thinking. I hope in a future nation where every ethnic group is respected, where every faith honored and every person treated with equality in all areas. For when love reigns–hate has no chance of surviving and if no love abides–then the nation is doomed to fall.

There is indeed safety in the multitude of counselors who are wise and humble and who will seek The Lord in all the decisions that must be made in order to keep our nation from falling into the hands of the reprobates who hate and destroy hope for true liberty and freedom from harassment and tyranny.

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Accepting Advice!

Listen to advice and accept discipline and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Proverbs 19:20 NIV

To whom should we accept advice? Not every person to whom we run with a problem is a problem-solver, but they are problem-causers and we know this by their conduct.

Some people–are problem causers–they spread gossip faster than the wind creates havoc in a storm and the results are just as deadly. The intent is to create a hostile environment in which they think they will be victorious, not realizing that they are simply exposing their true character.

The problem-causers have not solved problems, but created them and they tend to think they are a great source of counsel–wanting attention from everyone–when in fact they need to be counselled. They do not want advice because they think they are great advisers and they resent any attempt by anyone to point them in the right direction.

Problem-solvers analyze information and events and research solutions that will benefit all; they have demonstrated ability and integrity in all they do and have no need to seek any glory for themselves.

Before we accept advice from people we must consider the source. Can this person (or people) provide wise counsel and direction if they do not demonstrate knowledge of such?

In this society–we elect a president of the United States based upon their ability to get the job done–not how much they know, but their willingness to heed wise counsel in making decisions. Therefore, every elected president of the United States must choose a cabinet of advisers who know what they’re doing.

On a smaller scale–anyone in a position of leadership should know to seek sound advice and to listen to it. When they’re headed in the wrong direction, they should be willing to hear and change course, based upon the sound advice.

One of the biggest mistakes people make–on almost any level–is putting unqualified people in qualified positions of leadership.

The most effective leader in any given situation is not the one who assumes the position to make something of themselves, but the one who is more concerned about the entire purpose or mission of the organization. They do not dictate what others should do–they facilitate joint agreement and progress.

Dictators are small-minded people (and many are short in stature) who think they have a right to “tell” others what to do rather than seek agreement about what needs to be done. They are quick to draw conclusions without sufficient evidence and just as quick to manipulate the truth in order to garner support for their position (when they shouldn’t have a position or side to take). We see this in the behavior of Hitler, Stalin, and Napoleon–from a historical perspective.

So let’s listen to those who have demonstrated an ability to know what they’re talking about and when we’re wrong–let’s just accept the corrective counsel and seek to do better. It is only when we admit what we don’t know and accept wise counsel that we too, will be considered wise.

When We Fail, Who Do We Blame?

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.” (Proverbs 16:18, 20,21 NIV)

The Word provides us with much insight about wisdom and pride. Not only through the proverbs, but through James who says, “If any lack wisdom, ask of God who gives liberally and won’t upbraid (find fault with) us for asking” (James 1:5 paraphrased) It would appear from this simple statement that James understood all that was said about wisdom through the insight given to Solomon and other sages.

Wisdom is referenced as a  female in several places, but the female reference is also used to warn against adultery and other folly.

A wise person receives correction and instruction from wise counsel. Only a fool rebels against correction and instruction.

But who is wiser than God? No, not one human being is wiser than God. God gave Solomon wisdom and Solomon shared what God had given him, but he never assumed he was wiser than God.

Proverbs 4:5-9 NIV

vs. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them.

vs. 6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

vs. 7 The beginning of wisdom is this: “Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

vs. 8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.

vs. 9 She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.”

When we ask God for wisdom–insight to solving problems and addressing issues, we must not only hear what He says, but know how to apply what He says. For instance, we can obtain information and not know what to do with it and if we don’t know what to do with the information we have, what good is it?

If we establish guidelines and protocols to ensure order in all that we do, yet we do not follow the protocol and chaos erupts, what was the point of establishing the guidelines in the beginning?

Many motivational speakers, successful corporations–large and small–understand that without a sound plan and adherence to the plan–success is not possible.

Jesus tells us in another passage of scripture that,”a wise person considers the cost of building anything before they start to build.”(Luke 14:28 paraphrased).

On the flip side of exercising wisdom is the conduct of a fool who allows his pride to rule. And there is much said about fools in Proverbs,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7 NIV),

“The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” (Proverbs 15:2 NIV)

“The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not upright.” (Proverbs 15:7 NIV)

“A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.” (Proverbs 15:18 NIV)

What I’m taking from all that is said about wisdom, knowledge and fools, is that if we don’t know God or know how to seek Him when making decisions, we set ourselves for failure because we allow our pride to keep us from seeking Him.

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22 NIV)

Herein is the heart of the matter. When we think that our plans can succeed without wise counsel or consideration of all involved in the planning, our plans are doomed to failure. Though they may appear to succeed for a moment; the final outcome tells the whole story.

The difference between success and failure of any entity or individual lies in the ability one has to set aside pride (the “I” mentality) and to seek wisdom from wise counsel. If we do not think we need to heed wise counsel and instruction, then our failure is our own and we must look within to determine how we change the course of events.

Are we wise enough to seek God today for every decision we make or will we allow our pride to cause us to fail? We are the only ones who can make that decision for God does not make anyone do anything.

I pray God’s wisdom will overflow into your hearts today and pride will never be the reason for failure in any area of your lives.