Corona Devo 738

What do we do when chaos ensues all around us?

Do we get caught up in the frenzy of it?

Do we choose a side and dive in?

Or do we allow God's wisdom to prevail in us and the situation and cut-off the nonsense at the head?

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I've been on all sides of chaos (you probably have been too), but our best outcomes are produced when we keep calm and let wisdom win.

There was a wise woman mentioned in the Old testament Book of 2 Samuel. We are never told her name, but rather, she was labeled simply as "a wise woman".

(I would be blessed if people forgot my name and knew me/called-me-by only as this as well.)

The background story is that there was a "bad guy" named Sheba who had gathered an army in rebellion and opposition to King David. (Sidenote: Sometimes we might feel like we are under constant attack, but have you ever counted David's adversaries? He was just trying to do the best he could in serving the Lord with his life, but he often encountered hurdles. If we are living boldly for God, we can expect opposition too...but God is always with us!) Sheba and his men entered into the wise woman's town of Abel-beth-maacah and assembled for battle (2 Samuel 20:14).

Soon, King David's army, led by Joab arrived and built a siege ramp against the town’s fortifications and began battering down the wall (2 Samuel 20:15).

What would we do if we were living in that town and chaos was ensuing all around us?

Would we get caught up in the frenzy of it?

Would we choose a side and dive in?

Or would we allow God's wisdom to prevail in us and the situation, and cut-off the nonsense at the head?

Let's tune in to the wise woman...who was, well...wise. She was calm, diplomatic, and she let wisdom prevail:

But a wise woman in the town called out to Joab, “Listen to me, Joab. Come over here so I can talk to you.” (17) As he approached, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he replied.

So she said, “Listen carefully to your servant.”

“I’m listening,” he said.

(18) Then she continued, “There used to be a saying, ‘If you want to settle an argument, ask advice at the town of Abel.’ (19) I am one who is peace loving and faithful in Israel. But you are destroying an important town in Israel. Why do you want to devour what belongs to the Lord?”

(20) And Joab replied, “Believe me, I don’t want to devour or destroy your town! (21) That’s not my purpose. All I want is a man named Sheba...who has revolted against King David. If you hand over this one man to me, I will leave the town in peace.”

“All right,” the woman replied, “we will throw his head over the wall to you.” (22) Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and called his troops back from the attack. They all returned to their homes, and Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.  ~2 Samuel 20:14-22

I guess we could say that the wise woman gave new (or original!) meaning to the phrase, "Cutting it off at the head". And while I would never suggest or condone the actual act of committing this act, there are many areas of our lives where conflict/misunderstanding/opposing views could be "solved" if we were to exercise diplomacy, clear-speaking, and wisdom, like the wise woman did.

We can learn a lot from her approach and level-headed processing of the "issue" at hand.

First of all, she goes right to the source/the leader/the decision-maker: Joab. Too often we are content to complain or gossip in our circles, but we rarely include actual change-makers in our belly-aching, which produces no (positive) outcome, it only causes more "battles".

And once the wise woman has Joab's ear, she speaks with authority and wisdom to him. She is defending the safety of her city and her "people", and she does so with respect to Joab, but also with her own sense of authority because she believes in her cause.

The wise woman also cuts to the chase--allowing Joab to realize (and even verbalize) that destroying the city of Abel wasn't what he wanted: (“Believe me, I don’t want to devour or destroy your town! (21) That’s not my purpose. All I want is a man named Sheba..." ~2 Samuel 20:20-21).

Once the wise woman had boiled down the actual purpose of Joab's crusade, she came up with a wise (for her and her city) solution. (Again, I am NOT EVER suggesting murder of any kind.)

Her idea was wise because it appeased what Joab was really seeking: defense of King David's throne.

And it worked. They all returned to their homes, and Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.  (2 Samuel 20:22).

Soooo, what do we do when chaos ensues all around us?

Do we get caught up in the frenzy of it?

Do we choose a side and dive in?

Or do we allow God's wisdom to prevail in us and in the situation, and cut-off the nonsense at the head?

A word to the wise today...let's be ones who are peace loving and faithful (2 Samuel 20:19) and wise like the woman from Abel.

Blessings,

Sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com