Pam Padgett - teacher
Recently when Joan told about the letters she sent to her cousin,
Jeanne, I said to her "It will be interesting to see if Jeanne
responds". Joan told me that if Jeanne responds, she will probably just
put the unopened letter in her desk and may open it after Jeanne dies.
Joan's responsibility was to give the message, not Jeanne's response. I
realized I had spoken out of curiosity.
A few days later I did a similar thing. When Joan told of speaking
everything she was given to speak to the Catholic woman, I asked what
the woman's response was. Again, Joan simply spoke what the Holy Spirit
brought to her mind. It didn't matter what the woman's response was.
This morning I was thinking about two NFL football teams that have
not performed well and wondered "what's going on with them?" Another team
known to be weak beat a team known to be strong, and I wanted to know if something had changed with them.
None of these things matter in what I need to deal with in my life, yet I'm seeking to know about them.
As I was praying about these things today, I was again reminded of the word "curiosity" ...
curiosity:
- desire to learn or know
- desire to learn about things that do not properly concern one
- inquisitive (seeking information or asking questions more than is necessary or proper)
Our flesh loves to know, to look wise or say what we think sounds
wise. Seeking to look wise on our own. Not trusting God to show us
what we need to know.
The serpent tempted Eve with knowing good and evil ...
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of
the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the
woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch
it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
We are instructed to not be wise in our own eyes, but to fear God ... seeking to do the will of God, going in the way God shows us to go:
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and
he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
Trying to look wise over things not our concern is one way we can be wise in our own eyes.
But when we need wisdom to deal with what we face in our lives, we
have been promised that God will give us the wisdom we need if we ask in
faith.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not
that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double
minded man is unstable in all his ways.