Embrace Wisdom for a Change

You can't go after justice by doing injustices.

You just contradicted your cause. Jonathan Evans says God provides a better way to renew your strength and reveal His blessings. Even though right now trouble is weighing you down, you need to understand that there is a proper time and a proper procedure that you need to work through in order for delight to show up. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative.

It's been said two wrongs don't make a right, but payback is many times the first thought that goes through our minds when we've been wronged. Today Jonathan Evans tells us why we need to give God's wisdom a try if we truly want to make a change in our situation. Let's join him as he explains. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 1 simply says this, Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of the matter? A man's wisdom illumines him and causes a stern face to beam. Okay, I've got to stop there because it's talking about wisdom and it says who can interpret the matter? And then the next statement interprets the matter because when you use wisdom it illuminates your circumstances. It actually will change your face.

It says a stern face beams. In other words, it changes the outlook. The countenance on the man's face was changed by the fact that wisdom was used. In the church we have a lot of people that have knowledge, but there's a disparity when it comes to wisdom. Wisdom is a whole other ball game because that has to do with how you use the knowledge that you have.

People come to church on Wednesday, they'll come to church on Sunday, they'll get the word, they'll talk about how good it was, but how good is it to you when it's time to put that thing to use? That's where things fall off when it comes to using wisdom. It's not just head knowledge, it's when your knowledge that's in your brain reaches its feet and it's able to be executed in your daily life. He says wisdom will change your face. Wisdom, in other words, can change your circumstances.

A lot of times we're going through things whether it's in our marriage or finances or in our careers or in our relationships or even in our dating life and we're living in dark situations in those areas simply because our decisions have put us there. We weren't able to take the knowledge of God and make it useful in our daily scenarios and circumstances. The reason why is because embedded in the word wisdom is difficulty. You don't praise somebody for being wise for doing something simple. You look at somebody as wise because they're able to make good decisions in difficult scenarios. This is the reason why there's a large disparity between people who have understanding or knowledge and people who are able to make use of it and they're not able to use the information they have in difficult scenarios.

It's easy to do it when I'm not emotional about anything. It's easy to make good decisions when it's easy but when it's difficult or when you're being treated unfairly or when you're being marginalized, that's when it becomes hard to be wise in your response. And he's saying but if you understand wisdom, you'll understand that wisdom will change your face.

It'll change the countenance and how you look. It'll make a stern face beam because wisdom has particular outcomes that are associated with it that you get to experience in your life. Verse 2 says because now he wants to talk about wisdom but he wants to talk about having wisdom as it relates to governing authorities, people who rule over you. So that's where he's going in this chapter. So he sets it up by talking about wisdom.

You need to have wisdom even when you're marginalized, treated unfairly because wisdom has a game play that it wants to run in your life and it can change how you look. But are you able to do it when you're treated unfairly by governing authorities? And here he says it. Here he says in verse 2, I'll read verse 2 through 6 and hit this section. He says, I say keep the command of the king because of an oath before God.

Do not be in a hurry to leave him. Do not join in evil matter for he will do whatever he pleases. Since the word of the king is authoritative, who will say to him, what are you doing? He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight though a man's trouble is heavy upon him. Now, Ecclesiastes isn't the easiest book if you're just reading it. I had to read this like 10 times to try to get it to.

And sometimes you have to do that. Sometimes you can't just read the Bible like a novel and just keep moving because it kind of seems hard to grasp. If you read that thing a lot of times and you pray over it, the Spirit will start bringing that stuff to life for you.

And then I started reading it backwards because I was trying to figure out, what are you saying? And he says, well, in verse 6, for there is a proper time and procedure for every delight. In other words, I want to experience a delight. And in order to experience a delight in my life or change my face, change my circumstances, there is a proper time and a procedure to experience the delight. But the delight from what?

Watch verse 6. Though a man's trouble is heavy upon him, what I'm going through is heavy on me. I'm going through a lot right now. I want to respond and react right now. I want to act a little off right now because some of us are a little off.

We just look good in church. And he says, but don't do that because in order for you to experience delight, even though right now trouble is weighing you down, you need to understand that there is a proper time and a proper procedure that you need to work through in order for delight to show up. So in order for the countenance on your face to change, in order for your situation to start moving, you need to understand that the worst thing you can do is just react when trouble is heavy upon you. You need to understand there is a proper time and there is a proper procedure to it.

And some of this, we just need to make it practical. Sometimes we know that our worst decisions come when we respond right away. When you respond right away, that is an unwise decision because you're responding through the flesh. They just did this to me. They're treating me unfairly at my job. They're not putting me in the position that I have worked for. This is not happening the way that it should happen. It is really just simply unjust, and I'm feeling it right now.

I'm at my desk and I'm fuming. That's not the proper time. Because you're going to do something that's going to disalign you with God while you're trying to apply pressure to the injustice. Are you feeling me? We should really start thinking, I need to be wise in how I respond. Because the Bible says it will change my circumstances if I learn not to just react foolishly but think wisely.

Even though a lot of times you feel like by doing that they're getting over on you. That's what makes it hard because your flesh is eating at you. You want to change this thing yourself. A lot of times you realize in life what's hard is right.

What's easy is you, but what's hard is right. Romans 13, it says, Every person is to be in subjection to governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Now he's just saying, slow down, be wise, take a deep breath.

Because I'm trying to put you in a position, even though they're treating you unfairly, even though they're marginalizing you, even though it's not the way you want it to be, I can put you in a position, if you trust me, focus on me and not on them, I can change your whole face. But if you don't, now you put me in a position where I'm going to condemn you and they're going to condemn you. You can't go after justice by doing injustices. You just contradicted your cause.

A lot of times that's what our flesh gears us up to do. You can talk about the covenant of marriage, there is a covenant. He says, keep the law. You can't break the law trying to get someone to follow it.

It doesn't work that way. You have to keep the law. In marriage, there are two laws. Love and respect. That's like the two major laws of the covenant. Wives respect your husbands.

Husbands love your wives. Yeah, but I don't feel like doing that all the time. I mean, he didn't ask you that.

These are the laws. He didn't ask you whether you feel like it. That's like my coach asking me, do I feel like running the play that he just called?

He'd care less about that. This is the play call. This is the law. And if you follow the law, even when you disagree, even when it gets hard, even when you feel like he's treating you unfairly or she's treating you unfairly, if you follow the law, man, I can change your circumstance. Because a lot of times when we're treated unfairly, a wife may snap and disrespect her husband.

You just broke the law. So now you're out of alignment with God and out of alignment with him in the same marriage. Well, you've got husbands who don't think it's the right time to demonstrate love because she's not doing what I'm asking her to do or whatever the scenario is. So I'm not going to demonstrate my love.

Love is not just saying, I love you. It's demonstrating it. And the last time I checked, you demonstrated to death. Well, I'm not going to do that because of so-and-so. It's unfair to me. Well, you just broke the law.

And you can't break the law because you're being treated unfairly. Well, now you're out of step with God and you're out of step with her. So based on 1 Peter 3.7, you might as well not even pray because I'm not even listening to you. You just walked all out. You're just out.

Why? Because God has set it up and God has established it. And because of that fact, we have to be wise in our responses because we're focused on God more than we're focused on it. In verse 8, he says, no man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind. Nope. Or authority over the day of death.

No, you don't have authority over that. And there is no discharge in the time of war. No, you're going to stay in that war. And evil will not deliver those who practice it. So now he's telling you why you need to be wise. Just as sure as you don't have the ability to change wind with wind and as sure as you don't have authority over the day that you're going to die, trust me when I tell you that evil will not deliver those who practice it. That means that I don't have to do a bad thing to try to go get a good thing because I want delight now. I've been offended now. But God is letting you know.

Don't worry about it. Evil will have its day. Evil will have its day. We have to be careful with ourselves because we know that. But we want evil to have its day today. Right now, you know what goes around, comes around? Well, it ain't coming around the corner fast enough. I need this to happen now. We'll walk away saying, oh, you're going to get yours, you're going to get yours, but then we'll be like this. When is they going to get theirs?

And I want to be there to see it. I'm just being real. Some of you are laughing because you're like that. Yeah. Because we experience those who mistreat us, and the bad thing about it is not only do they mistreat us, they govern over us.

So it makes it even a harder battle. I'm saying they govern over you, but they don't govern over me. Jonathan Evans will come back with more of our message in just a moment. First, I wanted to let you know that Dr. Evans will be returning to the broadcast next Tuesday as we conclude this special series from his son, author, speaker, and chaplain, Jonathan Evans. Forever Starts Now is a nine-message audio collection we're excited to make available on both CD and digital download, which includes material we won't have time to present on the air. In these messages, you'll discover that God is holding something special for you, and it's much more valuable than anything else you've spent your effort trying to achieve.

Unlock the satisfaction of discovering your purpose for now and for eternity. We'd like to send you Forever Starts Now as our thank you gift when you make a donation toward the ministry of the alternative. And if you do it right away, as an added bonus, we'll include a copy of Jonathan Evans' brand-new book, Your Time Is Now. Building on the insights we've been learning today, this encouraging book will help you understand your own calling and significance in the kingdom of God. Contact us today for more information on this powerful package of resources. All the details are waiting for you online at tonyevans.org, or give us a phone call at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you.

I'll have those contact details for you again after part two of today's message and this. Your community needs you. Your family needs you. And with Kingdom Men Rising, you can gain access to the tools you need to rise up and overcome the opposition ahead. No more loser's limp. No more regret. Rise up and fight for what is yours, for what is ours. Kingdom Men, we rise together. Find out more at tonyevans.org.

Also makes a great gift for a brother, husband, son, uncle, pastor, and more. I'd like to make a suggestion and say that the reason why bad things exist is because good things exist. If it wasn't for the good thing, then why in the world would I ever do a bad thing? The reason why I robbed you is because I want money.

Money is a good thing. The reason why Adam and Eve ate the fruit is because Satan was telling them they'll be wise and be like, oh, that's great. If he was telling them a bunch of bad stuff that would happen if they ate the fruit, then I'm not really interested in eating the fruit. The temptation is that delight is a good thing, but I'll do something bad to get it. So you have to be careful within yourself because you have a good cause and you're right.

You shouldn't feel like this and you want it to change. Those are all good things. But if you're unwise, you'll do something hellish to get a heavenly result.

It starts at the beginning of time. Everybody's chasing goodness. The people chasing happiness. I want to be happy. I want to do happy.

They do some crazy stuff to be happy. But happiness is a good thing because we're sinful creatures. So we have to be patient on the Lord because he's righteous. And you know what God will do? Romans 12, 19.

God says, I will repay. Vengeance is the Lord's. You know what that means? That means that vengeance is righteous.

Did you know that? Did you know vengeance is righteous? Well, not when you do it. You're about to say, well, in that case. But it's not righteous when you participate.

You're in the way. You make it sinful. Well, how in the world can it be righteous? Well, God can't do anything unrighteous. So if vengeance is the Lord and he will repay, when God gets vengeance, he does it righteously.

And he does it rightly. Never take your own revenge, beloved. But leave room for the wrath of God. You mean to tell me that if I take my own revenge, I just got in God's way? You didn't leave no room for the wrath of God. So God let you do it your way.

You got out of alignment with him. Now the person that already offended you can cast judgment on you because you did it the wrong way. And you didn't leave room for God's wrath. Don't you know that God's wrath is better than yours? What God is going to do is the right way. It's going to be righteous. And his wrath will be carried better than your wrath.

You just messed it all up. Verse 11 of Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.

Did you get that? Because the sentence against the person who offended you is not quick, therefore it turns my heart evil. This is Solomon enlightening us to ourselves so that we can be in better position to understand who we are, so that we can be in better position to make wise decisions based on it. Because if you respond correctly, even when you're right, even when you've been treated unfairly, even when governing authorities are not governing in a way that puts you in the position you're supposed to be, you're what's fair, all of that kind of stuff.

If you use the proper time and procedures, and you wait on the Lord, even though they're wrong, God will see to it that he takes care of them and changes your face. That's important. Now, I'm excited about this, because this is something like people need to practice. This is where the disparity is in wisdom. This is where people leave the church and have all of the same knowledge, but then you try to figure out who actually can play when they're given the ball, and the X's and O's actually start flying around.

Because it's going to change. As soon as the husbands and wives go home, you've got to go, this is not the proper time or the procedure, this is not the proper time or the procedure. I'm into practicing. I've been a church boy my whole life. Churchiness, okay, I want to do it, because I believe it works.

12 and 13, I'll end on this. Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, did you see that? Still I know that it will be well for those who fear God and fear him openly. Do you know sinners can do bad and actually lengthen their life?

Isn't that annoying? You're looking at somebody doing bad and they're doing good. It's just, how is it that they get blessed like that? Well, don't worry about that. Evil will have its day. Don't you know in Revelation 20 God is going to open them books up? See, we're always thinking about life. We're not thinking about the kingdom.

We're not thinking about where God is going. Man, it's going to have its day. God's going to open those books up, and everybody's going to come to a full awareness at that point.

Don't worry about that. It will have its day. You need to be focused on the fact that if you fear God, you will also have your day. It will illumine your face. It will change your circumstances. But it will not be well for the evil man. He's letting you know. He will not lengthen his days like a shadow because he does not fear God.

What's the focus? God. If I focus on godliness and righteousness and not how I feel or what they did, then God still has the power through wisdom and those outcomes to brighten my face, even when governing authorities are marginalizing me and treating me unfairly. Jonathan Evans reminding us that positive change can take place in our lives when we embrace God's wisdom. And that starts by having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. To learn more, visit tonyevans.org and follow the link that says Jesus. There, Dr. Evans will help you discover what it takes to start a brand-new life.

Again, that's tonyevans.org. And while you're there, don't forget to check into getting a copy of Jonathan Evans' brand-new book, Your Time is Now, a look at finding your reason for being and experiencing greater fulfillment as you realize your life's purpose. And as a special bonus, when you make a financial contribution toward keeping this ministry coming your way, we'll say thanks by sending you Your Time is Now and all nine full-length messages from Jonathan's corresponding series, Forever Starts Now. You'll find us online at tonyevans.org where you can make all the arrangements or give us a call day or night at 1-800-800-3222 where our resource team members are standing by to help.

That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans will be returning to the broadcast next Tuesday. And until then, we'll continue to share this special series from Jonathan Evans. Tomorrow, he'll remind us that while finding contentment is good, becoming self-satisfied can prevent us from realizing our God-given purpose. Right now, though, he's back to wrap up today's message. Choose wisdom means I'm focusing on God.

And so when we leave today, we want to talk about these questions we're going to talk about. But really, you just need to be real. I'm offended all the time in these scenarios. How in the world can I use wisdom in them? How in the world can I be godly in them?

How in the world can I exercise proper timing and procedures so that I don't break relationship with God and get judged from the person that I'm trying to push back against? It's a double whammy. Y'all with me? Let's go talk about it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we love you and honor you, give you the praise and glory for who you are. Thank you for teaching us about wisdom, self-control, fruits of the Spirit, patience, all of those different things that are very difficult for us. But we ask, Lord, that the people in this room be people of practice so that they can brighten their faces. We love you and honor you. In Jesus' name. Amen. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.