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Exchanged Glory III: Wise as Serpents
The first three books of this series have followed an outline found in the first seven chapters of Proverbs. The first book, “Exchanged Glory: A Vision of Freedom,” dealt with the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I wrote that the sin of ungodliness keeps us from understanding godly fear. Our hearts go after false gods, and we lose the foundation for knowledge. This leads to other sins, including destructive addictions.
“Exchanged Glory II: The OK Stronghold” dealt with the false counsel of those around us.
Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother's knee. Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers. Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don't go along with them. (emphasis added)
(Proverbs 1:8-10, The Message)
We should listen to the right people – like our father and mother – rather than bad companions. (This, of course, assumes that our father and mother are giving us wisdom and instruction based on the fear of the Lord. When they don’t, they are in some ways bad companions also, and we have to be careful with their advice.)
In this third book, I have focused on Proverbs 1:20-7:27. I have given practical steps we can take to gain the wisdom we have missed. Many of us have become trapped by a hedge of thorns (Proverbs 15:19), and this makes it difficult for us to find freedom. By getting to know the God of the Bible and practicing His truth, we can escape to a new life.
When I memorized my way through Proverbs, I was excited by its promises. They seemed almost too good to be true, but I accepted them in faith and devoted many hours to learning to walk in them. More than five years later, however, I had to be honest. Though I knew I had touched something wonderful, the freedom that Proverbs spoke of didn’t feel like it was entering my heart. My life was going well on the outside – but I felt like I was dying on the inside. I resented the discipline that it took to follow Jesus. I tried not to, but I was mad that my sexuality continued to cause me such distress.
The Fairytale Stronghold (Chapter Thirteen of this book) confused my expectations as I struggled with emotional turmoil and addictive tendencies. My hedge of thorns was more than I could handle, and the pain of pushing through it brought an anger that threatened to destroy everything God was giving me.
It didn’t make sense to me, and I felt like a total jerk because of it. I had so much to be grateful for, including the presence of God in my life, a wonderful wife, and amazing children. I experienced great blessings every day, but I continued to face a grueling fight to keep back a leaching poison within me.
God was about to do something new and wonderful in my life. Another day of adversity would come crashing down on me, but He would use it to infuse the truths of Proverbs with greater power into my heart.
I had been hacking away at the hedge of thorns with a machete; He was about to give me a chain saw. Lord willing, I will share about that in the next two books: Exchanged Glory IV: A Time for Every Purpose and Exchanged Glory V: God Meant It for Good.
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