Potholes & Wisdom

Prov 30 What do potholes have to do with wisdom? The writer Agur gives us a clue.

Have you ever driven a city street only to feel your tire’s jarring as it fell into a pothole? Like a pothole, the writer, Agur bluntly said, “I am more brutish than any other human being…” I’ve got potholes in my wisdom. Perhaps you can relate to him. In God’s providence, Agur knew that there were three things more beautiful and four that he did not understand. There are three things that tremble in the earth and four that it cannot bear up.  Just like a road that has potholes that cause the bumps in our journey, so Agur’s understanding is lacking, and his potholes needed repair. He needed the nuggets of wisdom so his life’s journey is pleasant.

Agur saw himself as God saw him.  He concluded, wisely, he was not only NOT God! He didn’t even measure up to His standards!  So his first wise counsel was to take a long hard look at what potholes were on his road of life that needed fixing. He concluded just as the Preacher did: The true source of wisdom is God, who is in heaven, and we are on earth, therefore let our words be few. [Eccl 5:2] Keep short accounts with God lest you demean his holy name. Be sure to fulfill the commandment to honor your parents, so your days are long and profitable.

Let the light shine in your pothole, so you see what is lacking and ask God for that wisdom. In a nutshell, that is the wisdom from Agur.