God's Wisdom is better than our conflicts!--by Linden Malki

God's Wisdom is better than our conflicts!      Sept 22                                     

God didn't create our lives to be easy. Apparently we need to learn from Him, from His world, His word, and each other. The main command that Adam and Eve had to deal with wasn't objectively difficult, but their curiosity got the better of them. We can assume that Cain and Abel were informed of the requirements for an acceptable offering by God, but only Abel paid attention. The conflicts that resulted in our racial history were results of reality that didn't match the ideals we thought we could get away with. We have always faced the issue of our perceived needs vs the needs and realities of our lives and the lives of the others we share a planet with.

Have you ever known someone who grew up with an absence of pain and frustration? I recall a cousin who as a child was totally indulged--I was at their house at dinnertime once when he was about three, and he decided he didn't like the supper his mom had for him, and she actually ran to the store to buy what he demanded and cooked him a new supper. They were at our house at about this same age, and he was picking up stuff in the house (my mom didn't childproof a house, she houseproofed the child; I had learned very young to not get into anything without specific permission, which also meant they could take me anywhere).  When my mom tried to say something about this behavior, his mom's reply was "oh, let him play, if he breaks it I'll pay for it." Mom told me later that she was about ready to spank not the kid but her sister. He developed diabetes, which turned into a good thing because my aunt had to put appropriate limits on him.

God is like this: He gives a lot of rope, but also the information to deal properly with it. If we listen and learn, we will avoid a lot of the conflicts of life. If we don't learn in this life, we will have a harder life than we need, and pay for it in the

long run. He has given us good advisors, and when we still didn't listen well, He sent the wisest Teacher, who paid for our unwillingness to learn with His life. He will help us learn the smart answers from the evil and foolish advice if we ask; and we may be surprised at some of the ways we learn. Historically, we have paid for our stupidity with conflicts and pain;each one of us has our own lessons to learn in our own ways. It still comes back to the advice of a wise missionary aunt who told me when I was about to get married, that things worked better when we put God first.