Coming-In Out of the Rain

My dear mother was a born and bred Kentuckian. She took great pride in the fact, and didn’t take lightly when some pseudo-intellect would speak disparagingly of “her people,” as she liked to refer to them. In fact, she was an expert on turning the tables on such. Of those who had an education without the knowledge of how to use it she would say, “They ain’t got brains enough to come in out of the rain.”

You can see now why, being brought-up under this kind of philosophy, I am not impressed with those who have heads full of worldly wisdom, but have empty shoes; that is, they don’t know how to put shoe leather to what they know. That great old philosophical and practical evangelist, Dr.Bob Jones Sr., had some timeless sayings, one of which had reference to the 1930’s depression. He would tell the students of his school, “People with Ph.ds stood in soup lines.”

Going through the book of wisdom recently, Proverbs, I was impressed by how wisdom and understanding are so closely connected; as well as throughout the rest of the Bible. It seem to me, possibly, wisdom has to do with what we are to do, wherein understanding has more to do with how we are  to do it (Ex. 36:1). Let me use a simple illustration. One may have the wisdom to foresee a great storm is coming, but lack the understanding of what they’re to do.

I think in many of our cases, we need to cease praying for wisdom and begin praying for understanding. In most incidents, we know what to do, we just don’t know how to do it.