The Wisdom of God

[0:00] All right, I am here to tell you that you have a big decision to make.

[0:12] Now, I'm not talking about a decision like, what am I going to have for dinner? Where are we going to celebrate Father's Day lunch? What am I going to binge watch on Netflix?

[0:25] No, no, I'm talking about the kind of decision which closes off other options of your life.

[0:36] So what are some of the things that you think about? You think about what is good, what is desirable in your life.

[0:48] And if I sound a little confusing to you, how about I bring it down to a real life example. And I'm going to welcome you into my family. In case you don't know, there's two boys that live at my house, Andrew and Jordan.

[1:04] Andrew is 24 years old. Jordan is 22 years old. And just to let you know, they do know that I'm going to be talking about them.

[1:14] They are at this time or place in life right now where they are making decisions that have consequences for the rest of their lives in a lot of ways, right?

[1:30] They understand they're post high school. And they need to get on with their life. They need to make decisions. They ask questions.

[1:41] Do I want to go to university and pursue a career that's built out of that? Or do I want to pursue a trade and pursue a career out of that?

[1:53] Perhaps they don't want to do anything except travel all over the world and do whatever they want. I can assure you that's not happening. But anyway, these are some of the options that are there for them.

[2:08] For some of you, some of you consider, do I marry my high school sweetheart? Do I take over my dad's profession? If you made the decision to go to university, what major do I take?

[2:21] What university do I go to? If it's a trade, am I going to work with wood? Do I prefer plumbing? Do I want to work with, become an electrician?

[2:34] Do I want to cook? What are some of the things that you want to pursue? Now, some of those decisions or options are based on your past.

[2:50] Even post high school, how well you did in high school. How much money do you have? So my one son, Andrew, he's 24 years old.

[3:04] His decision-making process is pretty simple. There's two things that he really likes in life. He likes to drive and drive fast, and he likes to help people.

[3:16] So what is he doing? He is now training to be a paramedic. He's actually done some of the courses. He has experience in it. Lord willing, he will be able to attend school in August.

[3:27] For this past year, he's been saving up money for this next step. Now, our other son, Jordan. He is a completely different story.

[3:40] If you started with what do you desire or what do you like to do, there seems to be, it would be a shorter list for him.

[3:51] If he told you what he didn't like to do than what he likes to do. He actually likes everything. He likes sports, whether it be soccer or right now it's like snowboarding.

[4:02] He actually likes art. He likes to draw. He likes to make music. He likes to work with wood. He likes to do carpentry and construct things.

[4:13] He has a desire for business and likes the idea of going to business school. Now, if I each sat down with him and said, hey, listen, I'm going to devote a million dollars to your future decision-making process, Andrew would do the exact same thing.

[4:30] He would say, thank you very much. I'm still going to train to be a paramedic. Jordan, on the other hand, would probably use the money to take a year off, snowboard for a year, take another year off, and do art all over the world.

[4:44] Then he would take another year off and do a trade. Then he would finally take another year off. He would have to try everyone because the question at the back of his mind is, is this the right thing to do?

[5:01] Is it the wise thing to do? That's the ultimate question that we always ask, isn't it? Is this the right thing to do?

[5:12] Is it the wise thing to do? We do know and understand that by pursuing an education, we are putting ourselves in line for a better career, to be a more productive part of society.

[5:27] And ultimately, we want to provide for the family that we will have. With Andrew, there is no wavering in his decision. With Jordan, he pretty much changes his mind every day that ends in a Y.

[5:41] Just different options, different desires. So, there is an intent on both of their parts to do something good with their lives.

[5:55] Two, they look at the abilities that God has given them and the resources that are available to them. As much as Jordan would like to trial those things, it's not realistic.

[6:07] We don't have the money for that. But the last thing, do they have the wisdom in pursuing what is the right thing and what makes it right?

[6:21] Now, I want to change our focus from just using the example of the two boys that I have at home and God.

[6:32] Let's say God has decided that he wants to create a mountain here in Squamish. And it's a type of mountain that will stand for a long time, that will protect our city from adverse weather conditions.

[6:50] It will stop cold Arctic blasts from blowing through. And it will also cause the clouds to form over us and give us the snow and the rain, which we all dearly love here, right?

[7:03] So, God has the intent of doing something good. He wants to protect us. He wants to give us a stable, living climate. Now, God can make a mountain because he is mighty.

[7:17] He's God. He has that attribute. He can make a mountain. Now, say he decides that he wants to make that mountain last 10,000 years.

[7:31] Would God make that mountain out of sand? Would God make that mountain out of hay? Maybe feathers?

[7:44] Of course not. You see, in God's intention to protect us, in God's might, in order to obey us, we also see another of God's incredible characteristics, and that is his wisdom.

[8:14] His wisdom. We have been, that God has perfect wisdom. Now, I want to go back to the boys for a second. They have a great desire to do what's right.

[8:26] Like I said, be productive member of society, support their families. They have the power, the ability to make money and to make choices. But the one thing that seems to elude us as mankind is what is perfect wisdom?

[8:43] What is perfectly the right desires? They desire to make the best decision possible, but often there's trial and error.

[8:53] This is not God. Every decision, every action, every non-action is done with absolute perfect wisdom.

[9:11] There is never the question that needs to be asked, is this the right thing to do? There is no action that could have been done better.

[9:24] There is no thought that perhaps it could have been done differently. The fact of the matter, when it comes to the idea of trying to understand the wisdom of God, it is truly beyond our comprehension.

[9:40] The prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 55, 8, 9, simply says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

[9:55] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Man could devote himself to the entire study of God's word, of the Proverbs, of Ecclesiastes, to have perfect wisdom.

[10:22] And he still would be as what Paul has stated in Romans 11, 33 to 34, You see, the wisdom of God is infinite.

[10:53] Think about that term for a second. When I first was doing some study on the word, we can use the study of God's wisdom is perfect, never ending.

[11:09] But they use this word infinite. And I think that's a really interesting word when it comes to studying God's word. It's like saying that God's wisdom is beyond perfect.

[11:22] It's beyond today. It's beyond tomorrow. And it's beyond forever. That God's wisdom will never end and it had no beginning.

[11:38] It's always been there. The Christian writer, A.W. Tozer, says, The idea of God as infinitely wise is at the root of all truth.

[12:00] It is at the root of every belief about God. Now let me provide a definition for what the wisdom of God is. When we speak about man, we usually think of wisdom as applied knowledge.

[12:17] Applied knowledge. Taking what we know and using it in a constructive way. For God, wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends in the most perfect means all the time.

[12:41] Wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends. God does not need trial and error.

[12:58] God did not create the mountains around us several times. Kind of like if you were doing art and sketching something. Oh, I really don't like the way that hand looks. Let me try again.

[13:09] Try again. It didn't happen with God. He did it once. And these mountains still stand. You see, wisdom sees everything in focus.

[13:22] And God sees everything in relationship to everything else. The mountains don't just stand there on their own. They're connected to everything else.

[13:35] From the oceans. Where the location of the mountains are. Geographically, how far south they are of the Arctic. All those things are taken into account.

[13:49] And because of this, God is able to work toward his intended goal with flawless perfections. My friends, this is a God and an understanding of this that just doesn't give us a reason to worship God.

[14:13] It has to compel us to worship God. To put our worship in anything other than God is ludicrous.

[14:29] It's insanity. Nothing else can even make sense. purpose. So I talked about intent or a perfect end.

[14:42] What is that intent or the perfect end? Well, ultimately, everything is aimed at God's ultimate glory.

[14:54] God's intended purpose is aimed at God's ultimate glory. The primary reason for every single purpose is for his glory.

[15:12] Steve Lawson says quite simply, Wisdom is the pursuit of the highest purpose and the greatest good. So everything that's the intent behind what God does.

[15:25] And wisdom is the pursuit of this. That all of God's actions are as pure as they are wise. And not only are they pure as they are wise, but they are as good as they are pure and wise.

[15:44] What about us? I made mention just in my prayers this morning. When man sees unrighteousness, and we know there is unrighteousness.

[15:59] We just need to go back to Genesis and how men and women were created in the image of God. Man and woman of every color.

[16:10] And people are seeing this injustice, and they want to do something about this. They want to correct it. But through this correction comes hate, comes hostility, comes destruction, rather than creation.

[16:30] That's how limited we are as the created, rather than being the creator. So this morning, I want you to see clearly God's wisdom in God's creation.

[16:48] I want you to see God's wisdom in his sovereignty. And ultimately, I want you to see creation in God's salvation.

[16:59] So when it comes to the idea of talking about God's sovereignty, or God's wisdom in creation, there's many different things that we can talk about.

[17:12] But I want to focus on Genesis 1 verse 1. It simply says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

[17:24] Before this, there was nothing. There would be a big black abyss of nothing.

[17:38] With a word, earth came to be. He then spoke another word, and light came to be.

[17:51] He spoke another word, a moon appeared. He spoke another word. The waters receded, and the earth and the continents were revealed.

[18:04] Another word, there was plant life. Another word, there was the creation of animals. And finally, the word, we were created.

[18:16] And it was all good. Very good. Nowhere does it indicate that God created the world that fell apart, started again, fell apart, started again.

[18:31] No, with God's perfect wisdom, he created a perfect world. Think about that, a perfect world with fields of unspoiled flowers, of unspoiled rivers, unspoiled mountains.

[18:49] perfectly synchronized. Now, what's so amazing, it's not just that God created this earth, but how it works and holds together.

[19:08] So, even the earth itself isn't, it's actually tilted to give us seasons. And this tilt tends to move between 22 and 24 degrees.

[19:23] This tilt allows for seasons, the cycle of plant life and animals that keeps them sustained. Certain animals need to hibernate for a time.

[19:36] This is what gives them their whole food cycle is based around these seasons. seasons. This isn't an accident. It's not as if an asteroid hit our world and all of a sudden tilted out of whack.

[19:52] It was created tilted with a purpose. It's exactly the right distance from the sun. Any more we burn, any more we freeze.

[20:06] Or any less we burn, any more we freeze. even the design of earth with the highest mountains and the deepest deeps of the sea keep the earth in balance as it rotates.

[20:27] This is no accident. This is perfect, wise construction. We have a moon which is the perfect size, the perfect distance from earth, and the perfect distance from the sun.

[20:44] This moon controls our tides. It protects us from objects from space. It affects the heat of our crust and affects the speed of the rotation of the earth.

[21:01] What's interesting, a few months ago and I re-watched it, was this series on National Geographic. If you have the Disney Plus channel, it's on there. It's a series called One Strange Rock.

[21:15] It's actually based on observations of astronauts who've been at the space station looking down at the earth and the amazing things that they've been able to observe.

[21:30] The first episode is on oxygen. One of the astronauts is talking about he says, you can see all these things from these amazing things when you look down upon earth.

[21:42] He says, sometimes you can see these dust storms, but he says there's this dust storm in North Africa that's as clear as day. They're able to watch this dust storm collect in northern Africa and then it crosses the Atlantic and then it parks over the Amazon basin and then it rains over 27 or it drops 27 million tons of dirt all on the Amazon basin which provides fertilizer.

[22:17] Now if you've studied the Amazon rainforest and what's noted, the astronaut said out of the one place in the world that is the most difficult place to see in outer space is the Amazon rainforest because it's continually cloud covered and they said that the Amazon rainforest creates enough oxygen for 20 times the human population but he says what's interesting is the Amazon with all its variety and all its trees actually uses up and as we all know trees take in carbon dioxide and they give us oxygen but he says what they created this tower and they stand above this tower which is the highest construction and they never really noticed but above the Amazon as the rain comes in evaporates and creates clouds there is a cloud river which moves across and this they call it a real river that is over 5,000 miles long and this river eventually crashes into the Andes and as it crashes it accumulates it rains on the

[23:31] Andes taking nutrients into the ocean which create a type of algae that's that diatomes a type of algae and they're called algae blooms and they talk about how these blooms focus but as that algae goes through its life cycle it produces oxygen which allows us to breathe so from the dust in Africa to the sand that gets dumped in South America which goes to the Andes and dumps into the Pacific and there's this cycle and the oxygen in our atmosphere is always perfectly 20.9% too little we will die too much we will burn one of the promos for the video says this is the strangest planet in the universe in fact it's the only planet that we know of that has this and what's amazing they talk like it's some big accident what they believe is a perfect balance accident we who understand

[24:53] Psalm 19.1 which states the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork it's God's perfect wisdom the reality is all of creation from the intricacies of our human bodies to the attributes of water none of it's by accident none of it's by trial and error what we are seeing is the incredible and perfect design of a wise God who is perfectly good and perfectly wise and perfectly pure Romans 1 2 says for his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived that's Paul talking in

[25:58] Romans clearly perceived that seen without a doubt they are not we're not blinded to it we're not sheltered from these truths and it says ever since the creation of the world and the things that we have made why so that man is without excuse the most discouraging part of watching this video and I warn you if you watch it it's how staggering unintelligently they sound as they try to sound intelligently trying to explain creation that took over four and a half billion years for the earth to form and then a hundred million years for asteroids to hit the earth to give it enough water this is the wisdom of

[26:59] God wasn't an accident all those planets weren't planets that he created and made mistakes on they're perfect in how they are and there's a reason for every single one of them so that's the first place where we see God's wisdom in creation the second area that we see the wisdom of God is in his providence is in his providence see to understand God's wisdom we need to understand his goal and the goal of everything as we mentioned is not just creation but the point is that it would be to his glory and by this God orchestrates human circumstances so as to bring about God's highest end Acts 17 26 Paul is before men who've never heard the gospel never heard the

[28:00] God of the Old Testament and he simply explains to me he says and he made from every man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling places so God just didn't make man he determined when man would be who they would be a part of what people group what color what geographical location what countries they would live in ultimately who their mother and father would be every single one of us at one point or another has asked that question right why am I here why here am I really the the child of these parents I seem so different but but the scriptures clearly affirm that

[29:02] God works through all circumstances to achieve his highest purpose and we're part of it our lives are a part of achieving God's highest purposes our parents our life situations whether we're from rich backgrounds poor backgrounds educated backgrounds uneducated backgrounds whether on one side of the track the other side of the track this country that country this continent that continent it's all with a purpose to glorify God even our pain our sorrow God uses with a specific purpose God uses many situations to draw us one to the knowledge of God to finally ask that question there has to be more there has to be a meaning a purpose to this life secondly sometimes it draws us to be comforted by

[30:05] God even as we as believers sometimes fail to remember the wonderful truth that first drew us to him and sometimes we need to be reminded to draw near to his comfort he's our cleft in the rock the third reason is through that comfort God brings us to a deeper knowledge of him and through the deeper knowledge it's a deeper experience it's a deeper relationship with him even when we are in the middle of tough situations that we may not understand we do not comprehend why we are here we ask don't we take a look at the book of Genesis for a moment and I never made this observation until this weekend if you look at the book of Genesis it's divided there's 50 chapters in the book of Genesis the first five chapters is dedicated to creation Adam and

[31:05] Eve the next six chapters is dedicated to Noah life before the flood and then chapter 12 at this point we are introduced to Abraham and God is calling a group of people and there's nine chapters dedicated to Abraham and his travels and experiences then then we have five chapters on Isaac 11 chapters which there's a little bit of interwoven with the other ones there's 11 chapters but Joseph there's actually 12 chapters more than any other subject devoted to the life of Joseph have you ever thought for a second why Joseph why does God call so much of our attention to Joseph I don't know the exact reason but I'd like to believe out of all the lives at some area some element there's something in the life of

[32:16] Joseph that we can relate to although it's far more extreme than our lives here's a man who starts off for the first 17 years of his life adored and loved by his father he is his favorite son he's got the hand of God on him he has these dreams yet he's hated by his brothers and ultimately sold to slavery he's sent to Egypt where his God would have it he's raised up by the captain of the guard to serve him and he's given honor so it's like all right you know what he could be thinking I'm not with my dad I'm not with my people but as far as things go in Egypt I got a pretty plum life I've got good responsibility I'm trusted and then we know it all falls apart with Potiphar's wife it doesn't tell us how many years that Joseph spent in prison many scholars believe it was up to 12 years because we know that he comes out and will eventually serve

[33:24] Pharaoh or he'll be freed from prison at the age of 30 so 12 years and even there God has his hand in these dreams and interpreting dreams and there again it's like the hand of God is on him and he tells these men and one gets freed and one dies and he's just hoping that they'll call out his name and they don't you think he's not saying God what have I done to you have I not served you the way I meant to serve you to him then finally he's freed and it's interesting because he's placed by God in a position that not only saves himself but saves all of God's people that even in that great pain what men meant for evil God meant for good it was a plan that

[34:27] God had to glorify himself some of you have been some of you are in situations where you're asking questions why am I here God is it something I did something I didn't do sometimes we know the reason why sometimes we have no idea often some are haunted by decisions from our past we ask we cry out for God why why often we need to go to God to be released from the bitterness the pain has caused we need to ask God to forgive us for the anger that we've experienced the pain sometimes we need to release an unforgiving spirit sometimes we need to understand although we cry out for justice that injustice is what we really deserve if you turn your

[35:45] Bibles to Genesis 38 there's this incredible story and people have often pondered why oh why would God put chapter 38 in the Bible chapter 38 is the story of Judah and Tamar Tamar is this woman who had a husband who died and she was never had a chance to have a son so according to the custom of that day the unmarried the brothers were meant to impregnate her and that would be her heir the son so the two brothers go into her they enjoy sexual relationships with her but they will not give her a son it was so wicked in the eyes of God that God actually kills these men so the woman takes to her own devices she gets dressed up she pretends she's a temple prostitute and she ends up sleeping with her father-in-law what a scandalous story and then later on she gets impregnated from their encounter that time the father-in-law doesn't recognize her and then when he notices that his daughter-in-law from his son who's now passed is pregnant with child he now wants to punish her for the deeds that she had done but she ends up producing the evidence that reveals the hypocrite that he is because he was with a temple prostitute and that the son is indeed his but the child is rightfully hers why does that story even end there but what's interesting is that child will eventually be of the line of David that God even in those horrible horrendous situation of pain wretched sin

[38:03] God used it for his glory so not only was that child in the line of David but in the line of the ultimate redeemer Jesus Christ so in her mess came her salvation which leads me to the area that I want to talk about where we see God's wisdom in salvation let's be honest the story of salvation is out of this world really it is when we look at the story of the gospel who would ever invent that you could put a thousand men and women in a room saying

[39:05] I want you to invent a God a story of salvation and I'm going to give you ten thousand years to do it they couldn't do it like this it would be so outside the boundaries in fact in regards to salvation the story of salvation Steve Lawson writes God's plan of salvation is both simple enough to explain to a child and intricate enough to defy the wisdom of the most brilliant minds think about it God on high the creator of all the earth the universe the entire cosmos who put every law in place the law of gravity thermodynamics and all those other laws that physics scientists know about that keep this world running and moving and turning and all those things the moon the sun all those laws and the last creation that he creates he doesn't call good he calls it very good that is man and they they rebel and there's this separation what does

[40:32] God do he actually has his only son take on human flesh so say if I was telling you this story for the first time you say oh he's kind of like Zeus maybe he comes from the heaven stands among his people and he's a giant among them and he shows his power with lightning bolts and he creates things before their eyes and he vanquishes the foes and creates all these people to worship him no he doesn't in fact he comes as a child to live as a child to be raised by two teenage kids not to the most powerful country in the world but probably one of the most backwater countries of the world that the child of

[41:39] God would not be born even to any person of means political religious or significance of wealth whatsoever but he's an anybody of anybody's his dad is simple carpenter he would grow up with the same laws that we have he would live with brothers and sisters and he would do what good sons do he lived perfectly he perfectly keeps the law that same law that you and I break again again and again but he doesn't he lives this life of perfection it's a love for his father is perfect his love for his family is perfect his love for others is perfect and

[42:54] God in this masterful plan this wise plan allows the greatest evil to happen to him anybody who watches a Disney story or one of those type of fables truth is revealed and everybody rejoices at the end whether it's Rapunzel the lost princess or I don't know sleeping beauty or snow white something good happens with Jesus something very bad happens that God allows the created us the law breakers the not perfect the un wise God allows us to blaspheme his son he allows us to torture his son he allows us to kill his son

[44:04] Romans 8 28 says and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose what Jesus would have thought if someone would have quoted him that verse as he hung on the tree we know he believed it because he was there not for his purpose but for God's purpose his purpose was to glorify the father his prayer Lord if there's any other way please let's do it there was no other way this was God's perfect wisdom this action that Jesus submitted to that God allowed was perfect it was wise and it was meant for

[45:11] God's glory and how does that help us how does God free us of our wretchedness our brokenness think about it he does it through a cross in God's wise providence God designs a way for mankind to be once again united with God through a cross two pieces of wood strapped together a place of shame a place where the despised of society were put to death who would or could devise such a plan on this cross hung the man who lived out a perfect life love perfect love and then there's this exchange theologians call it the great exchange jesus as if it's like a jacket or a coat takes it off himself his righteousness his perfection his purity and he holds it out to us and he says here take it take it take my obedience take my perfection take my perfect obedience to the law you can have my perfect life

[47:06] I'll take your rags I'll take your rip torn dirty cloths that are barely clinging onto your life that smell that are ripped and I'll put it on and he takes our life he puts it on and he puts himself on this cross and God pours out his wrath that our sin is represented in this jacket this these robes these tattered and torn rags and he pours out all his wrath on our sin on our disobedience on our brokenness and our stupid crazy things that we do and Jesus takes it

[48:09] I'll take your punishment he says I'll wear that jacket for you here take my obedience take it by faith foolishly some of us will say I'm a little bit too stinky for that let me let me go clean myself up not worthy right now and Jesus says I know you're not worthy right now and you will be never worthy enough take this jacket whoa whoa whoa Jesus can I can I give you some money for that jacket let me let me feel good let me feel good it's not a fair trade Jesus will say yeah you're right it's not a fair trade but you do not have enough money you do not have enough works to pay for my righteousness you do not have a good enough family name to even lean on as a credit for my righteousness here take my life hey

[49:30] Jesus you know you set a pretty good example for me to live I think I'm just gonna I'm gonna try to do the things that you do I'm gonna try to live that life I'm gonna put your philosophies into place I'm gonna love others I'm gonna give I'm gonna do all these things here take my life the work is done sadly some someikk Not right now.

[50:34] I got something to do. I've got some fun I still want to do, and I can only do it in my rags. I'll come back. Yet they will have so much fun in their rags and be so distracted, their heart will be hardened, and they never will come.

[50:55] Some of you will be before God, and you will say, Father, I'm a slanderer. I have broken my marriage vows. I steal. I hate. I murder. Can I really have that jacket?

[51:10] And Jesus is going to go, yes. Yes, this jacket was meant for you. And he will say, allow my righteousness, my obedience to be wrapped around you.

[51:28] You see, the story of the gospel and salvation in the cross is not born of man's wisdom. It's only born of God's wisdom.

[51:38] For only in the cross do we see God's perfect love, his willingness to forgive, but his justice needs to be satisfied as well as his holiness needs to be satisfied.

[51:52] And that happens perfectly as Jesus Christ steps in and says, I will die not for the worthy, but for the unworthy.

[52:08] And he dies not a political death, not a martyr's death, but he dies what is known as a shameful death. He would be heard from the cry singing, saying, Father, why have you forsaken me?

[52:25] And then he will ultimately declare, it is finished. The great exchange.

[52:38] We live, he dies. And with that action, his blood was poured out and flowed to cover all our sins.

[52:51] Every sin, every stain, every part of our miserable, broken lives, forgiven, paid in full by those who take his life in faith.

[53:10] And God's wisdom is only God's wisdom work. On the third day, he rose again, victorious, defeating death. And 40 days later, he will rise to where he is now, seated at the right hand of the Father.

[53:27] All glory to God. I end this sermon with a question for you.

[53:38] Can you trust God's wisdom for your life?

[53:52] Can you put away your wisdom? Can you say that your wisdom is trash? It's garbage. It is no good.

[54:03] And can you take God's wisdom? Can you take his obedience? Can you take God's righteousness as your own?

[54:21] Because if you can, you can be saved. And you can be called a child of God.

[54:32] Let me pray. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, there's many mysteries in this life that we do not understand, nor can we comprehend.

[54:43] But Father, we put our faith in your wisdom. Father, we rejoice at your handiwork that surrounds us. Father, even in our personal circumstances, do we see your hand of wisdom?

[54:57] Even though we may not understand, we may experience the pain. For some of us, there's times of joy. But it all leads to this cross where your wisdom, which is seen as foolishness to man, stumbling block to those who rely on their intelligence and their traditions.

[55:25] But to us, it is life eternal. Father, may you continue to reveal your wisdom to us. May we demonstrate the humility that we are to have by not relying on our wisdom, but your wisdom.

[55:43] May you give us faith to believe. In your most holy and precious name. Amen.