Pursuing and being pursued: Reflecting on wisdom

Recently I heard this verse, and it profoundly touched me, as if hearing it for the very first time.

A most amazing experience occurred a few years ago when I began teaching as an adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University at its teaching center in Hilliard, Ohio. The main campus is located in Marion, Indiana, the home of my college roommate from Purdue University, Art Faulkner, whom I had not seen in almost forty years. I thought about contacting Art and his wife Rita and letting them know that I was now teaching at the IWU campus in Ohio. Several months after thinking about the Faulkners, I received a call from Gary Anderson, a dear friend and fellow minister in Chicago, asking if I knew someone who had called him because this person had heard a teaching that I did for Gary and wanted to have my telephone number. Gary called and asked if I knew Rita Faulkner who wanted to contact me. I was amazed that just as I was thinking about Art and Rita, they were thinking about me.

Perhaps even more amazing are the circumstances that unfolded the following week when I met the Faulkner’s son, Arthur Faulkner II, when we were both judges at a science fair at Sonshine Christian Academy where we both had mutual acquaintances. As it turned out, the Faulkners’ son lived in Hilliard, and when Art and Rita had visited him, they saw the logo of Indiana Wesleyan University on the building where the teaching center is located. They, of course, had no idea that I was connected with the University.

When we finally talked, I informed that I had been thinking about them and wanting to make contact at the same time that they had been thinking about me and wanting to reconnect with me. We have talked and corresponded by email sporadically, and we had a chance to talk face-to-face when they showed up for a surprise celebration that my wife planned in celebration of my 70^th birthday. What a joyful reunion it turned out to be.

That delightful series of circumstances brought to mind a message that Apostle Eric Warren recently shared with the congregation at Equip U Ministries. In discussing the Spirit of Wisdom, which is one of the seven spirits spoken of in Isaiah 11:2, he expounded upon the Spirit of Wisdom in Proverbs 8. Apostle Warren’s book The Seven Spirits of God offers a much more detailed discussion of this often overlooked aspect of our identity as believers. As he touched upon the various attributes of the Spirit of Wisdom, I realized that just as we are encouraged to cry out for and to pursue with passion, wisdom, so likewise, wisdom is calling out for and pursuing those who are seeking her.

The teaching inspired the following poem which attempts to express the essence of the life-changing message that I heard:

Wisdom Calls after Me

Listen as Wisdom calls out!
Hear as understanding raises her voice!

Proverbs 8:1[New Living Testament]

 

“Wisdom is trying to get your attention!
Understanding is screaming at you!”

 Apostle Eric L. Warren

 

To follow Christ, I must ascend to the mountain top.

As I seek to walk in his steps, where must I begin?

Despite all obstacles that impede my progress, I will not stop.

A bold lover is relentless, as he seeks to win

His beloved’s affection, so I also pursue

Wisdom, first of all, for it is the principal thing.

The seven spirits anoint all that I say and do:

God’s good pleasure is to rejoice over me and sing.

With the fear of the Lord, here is where wisdom starts.

The spirit of the Lord in fullness shall rest upon me,

For God alone has placed wisdom in my inward parts

To enlighten my understanding and help me see:

A lover woos his beloved, calling her name;

Likewise, wisdom calls after me and does the same.

In reflecting on the newly penned poem, I also thought of my experience with Art and Rita, all of which reinforced the message that I heard, as the Word of God was quickened within me in a most dramatic manner.

Tags: Proverbs 8:1, seven spirits of God, Spirit of Wisdom, Wisdom