Silas
Beloved of All
The burden you carry is weighty, and the cry for God’s intervention is heard. What you are asking for at its root is wisdom, the kind that does not merely know facts but knows how to apply the truth of God in a tangled and painful situation. You are witnessing the difference between having knowledge and having wisdom. Knowledge alone puffs up, but wisdom builds up and, more than that, it preserves and delivers.
When you pray for her to be hedged in with thorns, you are praying for the voice of Wisdom to cut through the noise. Wisdom does not whisper; it cries out in the open, in the streets and at the city gates, calling people to turn from their simple ways and live. The conviction you are asking the Spirit to bring is that same voice, making the path of sin so painful and so futile that there is no choice left but to turn around. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and to fear the Lord is to hate evil. You are praying, in essence, for a holy hatred of sin to be born in her heart, for pride and arrogance and the evil way to become repulsive to her. That is a prayer God delights to answer.
It is grieving to see those who should wield the sword of the Spirit shrink back in fear of man. That snare is real, and it is a trap of worldly wisdom. There is a wisdom that is earthly and sensual, and it will always avoid the sharp edges of truth to keep a false peace. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. It does not compromise with leaven because it knows a little leaven leavens the whole lump. When a leader acts like Eli, honoring relationships or reputation above the honor of God, it proves that their wisdom is not the kind that descends from above. The world’s wisdom is foolishness with God. You are right to keep asking the Lord of the harvest to thrust out laborers who will speak the truth in love, not with a harsh or negligent spirit, but with the gentle firmness that comes from a heart gripped by the reality of judgment and mercy.
Do not lose heart over the reports of what her sister has done either. It only confirms that sin is a spreading infection. The whole family needs the same remedy: the wisdom that comes from God. Human wisdom is not the answer; it has no power to stop the decay. If our faith stands in the wisdom of men, it will collapse. It must stand in the power of God. That is why you pray and why you must continue to pray, not just for the hedge of thorns around her, but for the inner healing of wounds that have been left open and festering. From the sole of the foot to the head there is no soundness, but there is a Balm in Gilead.
Wisdom is the principal thing. She needs not just repentance from an act, but the restoration of a soul that has been taken captive. She needs to see that all the things that may be desired cannot be compared to wisdom. The path she is on promises rubies but delivers rotting bones. Pray that she hears Wisdom setting its table and inviting her to leave her simple ways and find life. That is the true deliverance from the evil one.
As for you, the strength to continue in prayer and fasting will come as you keep your own eyes fixed on Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is made unto us wisdom from God. The word of wisdom is often given for a moment, for a specific crisis, to bring a solution that satisfies the righteous purposes of God. Keep asking for that word, for clarity, and for the protection of your own heart from deception and bitterness. The Lord preserves the paths of judgment and guards the way of his saints. He restores the soul.
Let this be your confidence: Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. So we plead for the one sinner, that she might become wise and win souls in her own turn. We ask for the fear of the Lord to fall, which is the beginning of wisdom and is to hate evil. We ask that the wisdom from above, pure and full of mercy and good fruits, would prevail over the earthly, sensual wisdom that has held sway.
May the Lord bring forth the word of wisdom in this tangled family line, and may the fear of the Lord cut through every snare of compromise. May she find her path so walled in by the mercy of God that she turns and finds repentance and refreshing in the presence of the Lord. And may you be strengthened with all might in your inner being, filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, proceeding in His strength alone.
When you pray for her to be hedged in with thorns, you are praying for the voice of Wisdom to cut through the noise. Wisdom does not whisper; it cries out in the open, in the streets and at the city gates, calling people to turn from their simple ways and live. The conviction you are asking the Spirit to bring is that same voice, making the path of sin so painful and so futile that there is no choice left but to turn around. True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and to fear the Lord is to hate evil. You are praying, in essence, for a holy hatred of sin to be born in her heart, for pride and arrogance and the evil way to become repulsive to her. That is a prayer God delights to answer.
It is grieving to see those who should wield the sword of the Spirit shrink back in fear of man. That snare is real, and it is a trap of worldly wisdom. There is a wisdom that is earthly and sensual, and it will always avoid the sharp edges of truth to keep a false peace. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. It does not compromise with leaven because it knows a little leaven leavens the whole lump. When a leader acts like Eli, honoring relationships or reputation above the honor of God, it proves that their wisdom is not the kind that descends from above. The world’s wisdom is foolishness with God. You are right to keep asking the Lord of the harvest to thrust out laborers who will speak the truth in love, not with a harsh or negligent spirit, but with the gentle firmness that comes from a heart gripped by the reality of judgment and mercy.
Do not lose heart over the reports of what her sister has done either. It only confirms that sin is a spreading infection. The whole family needs the same remedy: the wisdom that comes from God. Human wisdom is not the answer; it has no power to stop the decay. If our faith stands in the wisdom of men, it will collapse. It must stand in the power of God. That is why you pray and why you must continue to pray, not just for the hedge of thorns around her, but for the inner healing of wounds that have been left open and festering. From the sole of the foot to the head there is no soundness, but there is a Balm in Gilead.
Wisdom is the principal thing. She needs not just repentance from an act, but the restoration of a soul that has been taken captive. She needs to see that all the things that may be desired cannot be compared to wisdom. The path she is on promises rubies but delivers rotting bones. Pray that she hears Wisdom setting its table and inviting her to leave her simple ways and find life. That is the true deliverance from the evil one.
As for you, the strength to continue in prayer and fasting will come as you keep your own eyes fixed on Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is made unto us wisdom from God. The word of wisdom is often given for a moment, for a specific crisis, to bring a solution that satisfies the righteous purposes of God. Keep asking for that word, for clarity, and for the protection of your own heart from deception and bitterness. The Lord preserves the paths of judgment and guards the way of his saints. He restores the soul.
Let this be your confidence: Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. So we plead for the one sinner, that she might become wise and win souls in her own turn. We ask for the fear of the Lord to fall, which is the beginning of wisdom and is to hate evil. We ask that the wisdom from above, pure and full of mercy and good fruits, would prevail over the earthly, sensual wisdom that has held sway.
May the Lord bring forth the word of wisdom in this tangled family line, and may the fear of the Lord cut through every snare of compromise. May she find her path so walled in by the mercy of God that she turns and finds repentance and refreshing in the presence of the Lord. And may you be strengthened with all might in your inner being, filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, proceeding in His strength alone.
