I'm saying bring on the wisdom, bring it on means bring on the joy and bring on the wisdom.
I'm looking past the circumstance, I'm looking past the current malevolent insidious devious
situation that I'm in because I know that on the other side of it I'm going to gain wisdom.
Bring it on and this attitude that I have about hardship comes from James 1. So if you have your
bible look at James 1 2 through 5. James writes, my brethren counted all joy when you fall into
various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience or some of your bibles say
endurance but let patience or endurance have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete
lacking and nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to us liberally
without reproach and it will be given to him. Bring it on because we get wisdom. I say bring
it on because you know you're going to get wisdom through your hardship. We learn our
deepest lessons through hardship. We gain our best knowledge through life experience through
hardship. Wisdom is applied knowledge to a situation. Wisdom is applying discernment
to a situation. So good people are good because of the learned wisdom that have come through
difficulties. James is saying count it all joy when you fall into various trials
and he talks about the fact that you gain wisdom through endurance through the trials that you go
through. Strong leaders are strong because they've learned their strength through the wisdom gained
in shame and failures. So shame that that unmentionable thing in our life that we don't
want anybody to know about when we start to face that when we start to realize we do have shame
and we do have failures in our background that's what I mean by bring it on. So I want I'm not
saying bring it on bring on the bad situation or bring on the circumstances I'm saying bring on
the wisdom. Bring it on means bring on the joy and bring on the wisdom. I'm looking past
the circumstance. I'm looking past the current malevolent insidious devious situation that I'm
in because I know that on the other side of it I'm going to gain wisdom. A lot of our problems
are related to people. When you go through difficulties you learn who to trust and who
not to trust a little bit just a little bit better. You learn who's going to stab you in the
back and who's going to really stand by you and have your six and cover you. Well you learn that
through hard situations you go through. So bring it on means wisdom man. It means you're going to
get wisdom from God through your difficulties. Proverbs 9 10 says the fear of the Lord
is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
So wisdom the ability to apply knowledge in a godly way comes from the fear of God.
So I say bring it on because I fear God. I fear God. I believe God is doing something
in my life through these circumstances that I can't learn any other way. Proverbs 2 we read
my son if you will receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your
ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding yes if you cry out for discernment and lift up
your voice for understanding if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God for the Lord gives
wisdom so the Lord gives wisdom to those who seek it out so when I say bring it on
I'm saying bring on the wisdom Lord I'm going to need wisdom here bring on the joy Lord because
I know you're working something out that's really really good I'm going to count it joy bring it on
bring it on bring it on so the Lord gives wisdom to those who seek it it's like seeking silver and
gold it's like seeking wealth it's seeking accomplishment seeking to be the best that
you can be at something and that same kind of wisdom is developed through the hardship
of life. Most of most of us won't seek wisdom unless we need it. It's amazing when COVID came
I never anticipated how little I really knew about our health care industry and it just
COVID just rocked me to begin to seek out what's happening with this virus is this really true or
supposed to shut down everything and wear masks all the time and so I began to go after truth
and seek it because I didn't have it. So that's the way it works a lot is that God allows
circumstances where we feel very vulnerable. We do not know what to do. We're not sure how to
handle a situation and so the scripture is saying here James is saying here that you count it joy
when you have various trials because God's producing wisdom in you. God gives you what
you start seeking wisdom when you don't have it and most of us get pretty comfortable
with our habits being in a comfort zone. We call it a comfort zone just a comfort zone that you
just you know what to do. You have certain friends that are comfort zone. You have certain job
comfort zone. You have a certain level of money that you make that's your comfort zone but to
break out of that usually something negative has to happen. Something kind of pushes you back.
I talked about last time about the fact that you're that bring it on is a statement of like
standing in the surf when the when the waves come. The waves of life. Well think of it this way.
You're in a storm. You know you can't give in to the waves. You're going to say take it on.
You're going to say bring it on and you're going to stand in that. Well guess what's
going to happen after a while. You're going to start getting wisdom about how you stand in the surf.
So like I think I alluded to last time I learned as a surfer to go sideways. So I always turn
sideways so I'm not my whole body's not flush with the waves. Well that's the way life is. You know
you learn to turn sideways. That's called wisdom. That's called applied knowledge. So if you're a
surfer and you get into the waves and you get smashed a few times you'll learn how to catch
the wave better. That's wisdom. You go to a job you're involved in a job and you get fired because
you don't know stuff. Well you better you better start learning what you need to learn. If you're
an athlete and you get kicked off the team because you're not in good shape you better get get in
shape. So that's how wisdom wisdoms develop through shame. Wisdoms develop through failure.
So bring it on. Bring it on. One of my favorite poems a poem that God really used in my life
during a very hard time many many years ago and it's still my favorite poem. It's called If by
Rudyard Kipling and it's really good in its analysis of how we gain wisdom in adversity.
So listen I'm going to read it slow. I'm going to try to get the rhyme scheme going so you so I
really read it as a beautiful poem that it is. But listen to the adversity that that this guy's
going through and what he's saying to us about adversity in our lives and how I think he's just
saying bring it on. He's saying the same thing that I'm saying in a beautiful poetic way.
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too.
If you can wait and not be tired of waiting or being lied about don't deal in lies or being
hated don't give way to hating and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise. If you can dream
and not make dreams your master. If you can think and not make your thoughts your aim. If you can
meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same. If you can bear to hear
the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools or watch the things you get
for fools or watch the things you gave your life to broken and stoop and build them up with worn
out tools. If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn a pitch and toss
and lose.
lose, and start again at your beginnings,
and never breathe a word about your loss.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will
which says to them, hold on.
If you can walk and talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch.
If neither foes nor loving friends
can hurt you, if all men count with you, but not too much.
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
with 60 seconds worth of distance run,
yours is the earth and everything that's in it.
And with that, which is more, you'll be a man, my son.
So Rudyard Kipling is saying in a poetic way, bring it on.
And develop within you the spiritual, emotional,
and the mental sinew, the muscle, memory,
to be able to say, bring it on.
When difficult times come, realizing
that God is building joy in you and God's
building wisdom in you.
So bring it on.
Challenge you.
Say those three words.
Anytime bad news comes your way, bad circumstances,
say bring it on.
Say it three times.
Watch what God will do in your heart
by you believing that you can handle these situations.
You have what it takes.
You're strong enough.
Christ in you is greater than anything in the world.
Christ in you can bring you joy.
Christ in you can cause you to stay,
stand with a smile on your face in the storm of the surf
of life.
Believe it.
Bring it on.