Making Life Work

Putting God'S Wisdom Into Action

Bill Hybels

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781789740615
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Lifestyle magazines offer advice on every topic, from creating a calm home to succeeding at work, from bringing up teens to anger management. And yet their easily digestible hints and tips often fail to navigate us through the challenges of life. Only God, who knows how life really works, can provide the depth of wisdom required to live well.
In this lively treatment, best-selling author, Bill Hybels, draws out key principles from the book of Proverbs. Whether beginning the Christian life or wanting to get back on track with God, readers will discover accessible wisdom for really making life work.

1. PURSUE WISDOM

Who would have guessed that a series of books ‘. . . for Dummies’ would sell more than thirty-five million copies? These self-education books have been purchased by people like you and me who wish they knew more than they do about a particular subject. With more than one hundred separate titles in it, the series offers expert advice for just about everyone. Consider a few titles: Bird-Watching for Dummies, Cocktail Parties for Dummies, Desserts for Dummies, Fishing for Dummies, Investing for Dummies, The Internet for Dummies, Law for Dummies, Parenting for Dummies, Sailing for Dummies, even Sex for Dummies.

Why has this series so effectively tapped into the desire of people to learn? One satisfied customer said: ‘I buy them because they take the intimidation out of the learning process. Whatever the subject matter, they spell it out to me in simple terms. They make the complex understandable, so that even an ordinary bloke like me can “get it.”’

The same could be said of the book of Proverbs. It takes the ageless, priceless wisdom of God himself and makes it understandable and accessible to ordinary people like you and me. Comprehending its wisdom requires no university degree; the book contains few confusing theological terms. The most down-to-earth book in the Bible, Proverbs puts pertinent truths for everyday life on the bottom shelf where we can all reach them.

Few of the proverbs fit in the category of promises; instead they tell us how life works. One thing they make clear is that, generally speaking, people who are godly, moral, hardworking and wise will reap many rewards. How did the writers know this? They learned it from a lifetime of experience. They were fallible people like you and me who walked with God and pursued his wisdom, messed things up and learned a few hard lessons, observed the successes and failures of others and wrote down their discoveries in order to share them with others.

Above all else, Proverbs is practical. ‘A sluggard does not plough in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing’ (20:4). You don’t plough, you don’t eat. Any questions? ‘The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight’ (11:1). The Lord hates cheating and loves honesty. What part of that one isn’t clear?

And how about this passage for proving that the ancient wisdom of Proverbs is in touch with the real world: ‘Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”’ (23:29–35).

Proverbs is a fascinating and powerful book. As the introduction suggests, where else can we find writing that is poetic yet practical, humorous yet helpful, direct yet deep? Where else can we find the wisdom of God compressed into a few pithy phrases that please our ears and stretch our minds and satisfy our souls?

For what it’s worth to you

What is wisdom? Wisdom is what is true and right combined with good judgment. Other words that fit under the umbrella of the biblical concept of wisdom are discerning, judicious, prudent and sensible. Not very glamorous words, perhaps, but words you can build a life on.

The first nine chapters of Proverbs form an introduction to the remaining twenty-two chapters of the book and present the central message of Proverbs, which is this: pursue wisdom. The introduction is written in the warm tones of a fatherly voice giving instructions to his sons and eloquently building a case for the lifelong pursuit of wisdom.

‘Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention . . . do not forsake my teaching . . . Get wisdom, get understanding . . . Do not forsake wisdom . . . Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding . . . accept what I say . . . I guide you in the way of wisdom’ (4:1–11).

In verse after verse the father calls his sons to seek wisdom – and then he tells them why. Because it pays. ‘Blessed,’ he writes, ‘is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed’ (3:13–18).

According to this wise father, those who arrange their lives around the goal of gaining wisdom will receive rewards that far exceed anything they can imagine. You think you want silver? Wisdom is better. You think you want gold? Wisdom is better. You think you want fame, fortune, achievement, power? Wisdom is better. Nothing you desire can compare with her!

Think about the people you know. Do you know any wise parents, fathers and mothers who exhibit sound judgment in how they conduct their lives and raise their children? Do you know any fathers who know when to encourage and when to admonish, when to be tender and when to correct forcefully? Do you know any mothers who know when to give advice and when just to listen, when to teach and when to let life’s consequences be their children’s teacher? Now try to put a value on those wise insights: How much are they worth? How valuable are they to sons and daughters facing the challenges of the twenty-first century?

I know a lot of clever and hard-working people whose lives are filled with difficulties because they were raised by foolish parents who did not teach them how to make life work. I know many others who are living fulfilling and productive lives. Often they say, ‘I grew up in a home with a wise mum and dad.’ You can’t put a price on the legacy of such parents. Children who grow up with that gift agree heartily with Proverbs 17:6, which says, ‘Parents are the pride of their children.’

It works the other way too. How much value would a parent attach to having children who eventually walk in paths of wisdom, who know how to deal with conflict, who handle relationships maturely, who deal with money prudently? You can’t put a price on that either. As we read in Proverbs 15:20, ‘A wise son brings joy to his father’ – and to his mother.

Or consider the workplace. Time and time again I have seen the positive impact of pursuing wisdom. I can think of a number of people I know who have neither dazzling talents, outstanding credentials nor charismatic personalities but who nonetheless have risen to places of strategic importance in business, in government, in academia, in various professions and in the church. These people have gained responsibility and respect for one reason: they have handled themselves wisely in their workplace over a long time. In their work and their relationships on the job, they have applied wisdom from the book of Proverbs – wisdom about taking initiative and developing discipline, wisdom about speaking the truth in love and managing anger and doing good to others. The foolish people around them who neglected these principles eventually fell by the wayside, but these wise people are still at work – and still receiving honour and reward.

This is just as Proverbs says it should be. ‘Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men’ (22:29). This means that people who work wisely and skilfully over a long time will be esteemed highly by their peers and superiors, and they will be richly rewarded. Again, this is not a promise or a guarantee, but it is generally the way life works.

Unfortunately, such people are becoming more and more of a rarity. A businessman recently told me that his business was going so well that he couldn’t hire salespeople fast enough to take all the orders coming in to his company. ‘The only problem,’ he said, ‘is that so many of my new salespeople act strangely.’

‘What do you mean by strangely?’ I asked.

‘I mean they do stupid things and get themselves in trouble. They shoot themselves in the foot. They don’t turn up on time. They don’t call the people waiting to hear from them. They don’t charge fair prices. They don’t treat people courteously. They don’t admit mistakes when they make them. They don’t cooperate with their colleagues. They just act strangely, and eventually I have to sack them. They could be building a successful career. They could be establishing financial security and setting aside a nest egg for the future. Instead, they force me to let them go. I’m not demanding a lot, but how can I tolerate their behaviour?’

What was the bottom line in this man’s complaint? ‘I can’t find enough wise people.’ He’s frustrated and he’s baffled. He knows what wise employees are worth and only wishes he had more.

One of the incomparable benefits of pursuing wisdom is that it offers us a navigational system to keep us out of moral blind alleys and dead-end roads. ‘Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways’ (2:11–13).

Pursuing wisdom is also an effective way of investing in the future. ‘If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off’ (24:14). What kind of hope does wisdom offer us for the future? Undoubtedly hope for a future in heaven but also, I believe, hope for a life that works . . . here, today, in this world.

That is why I wrote this book. I earnestly believe that the wisdom of Proverbs can make our lives work better. It can offer us invaluable advice about diligence and self-discipline, about choosing friends and boy/girlfriends, about establishing a healthy family life, about honouring God with our finances, about caring for our bodies, about growing spiritually, about caring for the poor, about managing anger and about nearly every other major issue in life.

Bad choices

The writers of Proverbs could have related to my business friend with ‘strange’ employees. They too were shocked and disgusted by the number of people making unwise choices and ruining their lives. And they didn’t hold back in what they had to say about these people. The writers of Proverbs say the opposite of wisdom is foolishness and the opposite of a wise person is a fool.

Today the word fool often means someone with low intelligence, but in biblical usage, fools may have a high I.Q. and a reputation for success. What makes them fools is that they ignore God’s wisdom, preferring to follow the shifting dictates of the crowd or their own fallible opinions. While fools often consider themselves clever – people who know how to beat the system – their cleverness all too often leads to their ruin. Their penchant for distorting the truth, their lack of discernment and discipline, their unwillingness to exhibit self-control and their apparent delight in throwing caution to the wind put them on a path to disaster.

Folly is what the Bible calls the actions of a fool, and it minces no words in exposing and denouncing both fools and their folly. Repeatedly the Bible warns that the path of a fool is a downward spiral, that folly begets more folly and that the end is destruction. The fool, says the Bible, ‘will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly’ (5:23). The fool ‘blurts out folly’ (12:23). The mouth of the fool ‘feeds on folly’ (15:14). ‘Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools’ (16:22).

In some of the more graphic proverbs we read of the danger of associating with fools: ‘Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly’ (17:12). We read of the habit-forming nature of foolishness: ‘As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly’ (26:11). We read of the difficulty of separating a fool from his folly: ‘Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him’ (27:22).

Many of the proverbs are parallel constructions that compare the wise and the foolish person. For example, ‘The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice’ (12:15). Or, ‘A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless’ (14:16). Again, ‘A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control’ (29:11).

I wish the Bible wouldn’t use words like ‘fool’ and ‘folly’ because I hate having to think of myself as a fool, but sometimes I am. Sometimes we all are. Proverbs 22:15 states unequivocally that ‘folly is bound up in the heart of a child’. According to the Bible, human beings do not start life with a clean slate. On the contrary, we come into the world with a definite bent toward foolishness.

Think of a chubby baby boy sitting in a sandpit. All a baby knows how to do is act on impulses, so what does the little fellow do when he feels a hunger pang? He grabs a fistful of sand and shoves it into his mouth. He doesn’t ask himself if it is wise to have sand for lunch. He just grabs whatever allows him to satiate his hunger pang as quickly as possible, no matter how foolish that option is. If he had been sitting in the yard, he would have had grass or dirt for lunch. Only later does he – and his parents – face the consequences of sand in a baby’s belly.

The same instinct for immediate gratification of impulses takes over when young children see something they want. What do they do? They lunge for it. I used to buckle my daughter on the armrest of the car and let her sit beside me while I drove. I would be driving down the main road, and she would become fascinated with the glasses I wear when I drive. Immediately she would tear them off my face. She had no clue about the foolishness of what she was doing. All she knew was that an impulse inside her said, ‘Grab!’ and like every other little child who has ever been born, her first instinct was to gratify that impulse.

Proverbs tells us what to do about this childish behaviour. ‘Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of discipline will drive it far from him’ (22:15). I do not believe that the ‘rod of discipline’ implies that we beat foolishness out of a child. The point is that foolishness must be methodically driven out of a child – step by step, month by month, year by year – and replaced by wisdom. That is the only way we can grow out of our infantile folly and become mature people who handle desires and impulses in a godly, constructive way.

A graphic and tragic example of the destructive power of unchecked impulses is the story of the shootings in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Two boys, one aged eleven and one aged thirteen, broke into a relative’s house, stole several guns and brought them to a hillside next to their school. Being familiar with how guns work, they properly loaded them, then measured the range to the entrance of the school.

One of them went into the school and sounded the fire alarm. As the children filed out into the car park, the two boys aimed their rifles, wound in their sights and started shooting. Four minutes later, four pupils and a teacher were dead, and ten other people lay wounded in pools of their own blood.

The country was stunned. For weeks the airwaves were filled with the one-word question: Why? Why would two young boys do such a thing? What kind of society are we living in? What has happened to our culture and our values? What systems of thought would produce this kind of behaviour?

According to Proverbs, such behaviour is the inevitable result of living in a world filled with pe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Pursue wisdom
• 2. Take initiative
• 3. Do good
• 4. Develop discipline
• 5. Speak truth
• 6. Choose friends wisely
• 7. Marry well
• 8. Forge strong families: Part one
• 9. Forge strong families: Part two
• 10. Cultivate compassion
• 11. Manage anger
• 12. Trust God in everything