Doors and Gateways

The old naval bakery, Vittoriosa Malta 
by Paul Collings

Proverbs 8:1-3

Does not wisdom call,

And understanding lift up her voice?

On top of the heights beside the way,

Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,

At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

Once more we find Wisdom lifting her voice. But in particular, in these verses the line that speaks to me is that Wisdom stands where paths meet beside the gates at the opening of the city. It says to me that the Wisdom of God is calling me where our paths meet.

In the Northumbria Midday Celtic Prayer there is a Canticle that says:

Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;

that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy,

that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;

and establish Thou the work of our hands.

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;

and establish Thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

Elizabeth Elliot, in her book ‘Let Me Be a Woman’, records the story of Gladys Aylward unable to accept the looks God had given her. Ms. Aylward told how when she was a child she had two great sorrows. One, that while all her friends had beautiful golden hair, hers was black. The other, that while her friends were still growing, she had stopped. She was about four feet ten inches tall. But when at last she reached the country to which God had called her to be a missionary, she stood on the wharf in Shanghai and looked around at the people to whom He had called her. “Every single one of them” she said, “had black hair. And every one of them had stopped growing when I did.” She was able to look to God and exclaim, “Lord God, You know what You’re doing!”

Faithful Father, You remain trustworthy despite my failures and unfaithfulness. You are always dependable, and it’s not because of what I’ve done but because that is Who You are. Help me Lord to take that fully to heart. Help me place my full trust and dependence on You. I seek and trust You for wisdom and direction in every decision and every endeavour I take. Lead me, Father, Amen.