Latest / Grace for My Home | Christian Women, Growing in Faith / In a World Full of Foolishness, Choose Wisdom
Transcript
- 1:14Audrey McCracken: Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home.
- 1:17Audrey McCracken: I finally made it back.
- 1:20Audrey McCracken: I hope that you guys did not give up on me.
- 1:24Audrey McCracken: I said I was going to take a couple of weeks off and I ended up taking a couple of months off, but I thought about you the whole time, I promise.
- 1:34Audrey McCracken: I kept thinking I've got to get back to grace for my home.
- 1:38Audrey McCracken: But I needed the break.
- 1:41Audrey McCracken: I needed the mental break I needed to disconnect from not just the podcast but from several things, and I kept thinking I have got to get back.
- 1:52Audrey McCracken: My listeners are going to go away, so hopefully you're still with me, but I appreciate your patience and I'm so glad to go away.
- 1:59Audrey McCracken: So hopefully you're still with me, but I appreciate your patience and I'm so glad to be back.
- 2:01Audrey McCracken: I had several of you reach out to me just to make sure that I was coming back, and that was a blessing, because some of you I'd never heard from before, I'd never spoken to you, I'd never talked to you.
- 2:14Audrey McCracken: So it was good to see that there were people that I didn't know that were out there listening, and I knew there were.
- 2:20Audrey McCracken: But I love to know who's listening and sometimes you know as the Lord puts you on my heart.
- 2:27Audrey McCracken: I pray for you and I just appreciate you being patient with me and hanging on and waiting and I'm glad to be back and I'm just thankful for this time.
- 2:40Audrey McCracken: I really did need it, guys.
- 2:42Audrey McCracken: You know I had come to a point where, not because of the podcast but because of so many things, I had really felt burned out and like I didn't have anything to share.
- 2:52Audrey McCracken: And I knew I still had things I wanted to share but I just didn't feel like I was able to show them in the right heart and the right attitude and I just felt like I needed to draw away for a little while.
- 3:04Audrey McCracken: And you know that is against everything that people tell you in the podcasting world.
- 3:09Audrey McCracken: You know I've had people who tell me, who tell, who have told me, never go a week without posting a podcast, told me, never go a week without posting a podcast.
- 3:21Audrey McCracken: And you know, even if you have to go and repost an older one, and you know, just make it a greatest hits or something like that.
- 3:24Audrey McCracken: And I know there's wisdom in that.
- 3:26Audrey McCracken: But for me and my life sometimes I have to let something die so that it can come back the right way, so that it can come back the right way.
- 3:40Audrey McCracken: And so I'm back this week and I just want to give you a little update of some things that are going on here in our home we have three teenagers right now 17, 16, and my youngest is about to turn 14 in June.
- 4:01Audrey McCracken: So three boys and they are full of energy and they're growing up so fast and I have mixed feelings about that.
- 4:12Audrey McCracken: Love to see it, love to see the young men that they're becoming.
- 4:16Audrey McCracken: But last week on my phone I got an update from Shutterfly that says you know, 15 years ago today, and then nine years ago today and five years ago today, and I'll be honest with you, I was about in tears because I thought my babies have grown up and I'm very proud of the young men that they have become and I am so glad to be a part of their lives.
- 4:43Audrey McCracken: But as they grow up, I'm having to grow up too.
- 4:48Audrey McCracken: As they find new things and develop in the areas where you know God, the areas where God has placed them, I'm having to to refine myself and it's good but it's scary.
- 5:03Audrey McCracken: You know, there's something really comfortable about knowing your place and and find you know doing the same thing that you've always done.
- 5:10Audrey McCracken: You know I know how to do that.
- 5:12Audrey McCracken: But when things start moving and things start changing and we're not really sure what our job is at this point in time, that can be a little scary or at least a little uncomfortable.
- 5:25Audrey McCracken: And that's where I've been with my children.
- 5:29Audrey McCracken: My oldest son, david, he's going into his, he's finishing up his junior year, going into a senior year next year.
- 5:35Audrey McCracken: He just had soccer playoffs and he had a great season.
- 5:39Audrey McCracken: He did really well.
- 5:40Audrey McCracken: He's also in an IB program at our local high school and so he's very busy these this time of year with tests and those kind of things.
- 5:51Audrey McCracken: Took his first SAT a couple weeks ago.
- 5:53Audrey McCracken: My middle son, luke, he has been in track and field this year.
- 6:00Audrey McCracken: This is a new experience for him and he today qualified to go to the Lower State Championship for the javelin throw.
- 6:08Audrey McCracken: That's just a whole new sport for him because his thing has been football, football, football.
- 6:14Audrey McCracken: But this was I'm glad he did this.
- 6:17Audrey McCracken: It was something different and he did well and it's kind of opened up his eyes to some other things and helped him meet some new people.
- 6:28Audrey McCracken: And also my youngest son, caleb.
- 6:31Audrey McCracken: I have been homeschooling him.
- 6:34Audrey McCracken: This past year.
- 6:35Audrey McCracken: I've homeschooled him since he was four or five years old, but next year he has decided to go to public school with his two older brothers and my husband, who is the principal at our local high school.
- 6:50Audrey McCracken: So I'm going to miss him so much.
- 6:53Audrey McCracken: He and I are very close because we spend so much time together.
- 6:57Audrey McCracken: But I know it's the right decision.
- 7:00Audrey McCracken: He is, he's ready for that, he sees his brothers involved in things and he wants to be there too.
- 7:06Audrey McCracken: So just a little cat recap on my, on my sons and what's going on there.
- 7:12Audrey McCracken: Our coffee shop is going well.
- 7:15Audrey McCracken: We opened a coffee shop in June, so we're coming up on our one-year anniversary soon.
- 7:20Audrey McCracken: That is mind-blowing.
- 7:23Audrey McCracken: We haven't had a full year yet, so we're still learning the seasons and trying to figure it all out.
- 7:29Audrey McCracken: And it's exciting and it's work.
- 7:33Audrey McCracken: It is a lot of work.
- 7:35Audrey McCracken: I cannot lie, it's more work.
- 7:36Audrey McCracken: Things are always lot of work.
- 7:37Audrey McCracken: I cannot lie, it's more work.
- 7:38Audrey McCracken: You know things are always more work than you think they're going to be, but it is a lot of work.
- 7:43Audrey McCracken: But it's also a ministry.
- 7:45Audrey McCracken: My sister and I we manage it and we see it as a ministry.
- 7:51Audrey McCracken: It's an outreach into the community.
- 7:52Audrey McCracken: It's a way to serve.
- 7:53Audrey McCracken: It's a way to find the needs of the community and the needs of the people.
- 7:57Audrey McCracken: We have so many people that we've added to our prayer list since we've started this and I'm just thankful to the Lord for that connection with the community, because we also moved our church to this same city back in October.
- 8:14Audrey McCracken: So we opened up the coffee shop in June, moved our church there in October.
- 8:18Audrey McCracken: Church is doing well.
- 8:21Audrey McCracken: We're growing.
- 8:22Audrey McCracken: We're growing slow, but that's really intentional because we're trying to figure all that out.
- 8:29Audrey McCracken: Right now we're meeting in a gym, so it's not an ideal space for a church, but it's a temporary solution to our need for a building.
- 8:39Audrey McCracken: But we're also actively looking for a building in the community and just hoping that soon we can find that, find something that will meet our needs and allow us to grow.
- 8:51Audrey McCracken: I've taken on new responsibilities in my church, which is the things I've wanted to do.
- 8:57Audrey McCracken: I felt like that I was called to do for a long time and it's just that season.
- 9:01Audrey McCracken: It's that season to step into them.
- 9:03Audrey McCracken: So that's a little recap on our lives and what's going on here.
- 9:09Audrey McCracken: We're making plans for summer, or at least thinking about making plans for summer and I hope that you are doing well.
- 9:16Audrey McCracken: I hope that God is doing new things in you.
- 9:22Audrey McCracken: Usually in the summer I try to take a break from podcasting, but I'm not going to do that this summer because I just had my break.
- 9:29Audrey McCracken: So I'll let that count as my summer break and try to keep on going throughout the summer, and I do love coming to you each week and sharing with you.
- 9:39Audrey McCracken: I have missed this opportunity to pour out to share encouraging words and that's why I do this.
- 9:48Audrey McCracken: I just want you to know that that I do not make any money on podcasting.
- 9:52Audrey McCracken: I do have a Buy Me a coffee link in my show notes and I think I've had two people buy me a coffee, which certainly is I'm very thankful for.
- 10:04Audrey McCracken: It was a blessing.
- 10:05Audrey McCracken: It was a pleasant surprise both times, but I don't do this for that.
- 10:10Audrey McCracken: I do this because I know what it's like to be a mom by yourself with children all day long and wonder if it matters, and I want to scream from the rooftop that it matters.
- 10:23Audrey McCracken: It matters so much.
- 10:25Audrey McCracken: Like I said, as those Shutterfly photos came back from 15 years and eight years and five years, it did something in my soul this past week to see those little ones, and it's so funny because some of the photos were from days that I don't remember Like I don't remember going to the state park that day, but my boys do, because I showed them the photos and they're like oh yeah, yeah, I remember that, I remember that.
- 10:52Audrey McCracken: I don't remember it.
- 10:53Audrey McCracken: And sometimes you know, you just wonder does this day matter?
- 10:56Audrey McCracken: And this day matters, even the days you don't have photos of those days.
- 11:03Audrey McCracken: Every day matters and there are so many days that I've spent with my boys that I do not remember.
- 11:10Audrey McCracken: I don't remember everything we did.
- 11:12Audrey McCracken: Maybe it was just laundry, Maybe the only thing I accomplished that day was reading to them and laundry, but that day mattered.
- 11:20Audrey McCracken: And I just want to encourage you in that, that your life matters, that the things that you're doing in your home, that they have eternal reward, and God has, he sees and he cares.
- 11:37Audrey McCracken: And good job, mama, don't stop, keep on going, because one day you will be so thankful that you did the hard thing.
- 11:47Audrey McCracken: You know, we're in a world right now that in so many ways, feels like there's chaos all around and there's so much foolishness and there's so much violence happening right now and it just seems like since 2020 when COVID hit and I know there was a lot of foolishness before COVID, but I guess it just seems like it's just advanced so quickly.
- 12:16Audrey McCracken: But I guess it just seems like it's just advanced so quickly and as I see the foolishness around us and the confusion, my heart really does go out to people, and especially to moms.
- 12:32Audrey McCracken: But, mamas, I want to tell you that we have an advantage.
- 12:39Audrey McCracken: The advantage we have, first of all, is we have God.
- 12:42Audrey McCracken: He knows the end from the beginning.
- 12:46Audrey McCracken: He's not confused, he's not worried, he's not afraid.
- 12:51Audrey McCracken: He has a plan and when we're in that plan, we can rest in him, because we're not out there trying to do our own thing.
- 13:03Audrey McCracken: We're in him trying to do his thing, and so he takes responsibility for us.
- 13:12Audrey McCracken: He opens the doors that need to be open, he shuts the doors that need to be shut and he gives us all that we need.
- 13:17Audrey McCracken: He gives us the wisdom that we need, the strength, the resources, the time.
- 13:23Audrey McCracken: See, when we're about his business, he takes responsibility for us and we can rest in that.
- 13:29Audrey McCracken: Now Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light, and that word for yoke is it means responsibility.
- 13:39Audrey McCracken: You know, when we're doing the things that Jesus has put us over, when we are responsible for the things that he's asked us to do, then there is an ease.
- 13:50Audrey McCracken: It's not easy, but there is an ease, there's an ability, there's a grace to do it.
- 13:56Audrey McCracken: And so we have an advantage.
- 14:02Audrey McCracken: Our advantage is that we're in Christ and also that he never changes.
- 14:08Audrey McCracken: You know, the world can be upside down, twisted and turning, but we are on a solid rock that is dependable and never changes.
- 14:18Audrey McCracken: He never changes.
- 14:20Audrey McCracken: So we just have to get with him and we can stand on solid ground, even when so many things around us feel like they're they're in a spin or a turn or tornado.
- 14:33Audrey McCracken: You know, christ is the solid rock and we can get in him and stand on his firm foundation.
- 14:40Audrey McCracken: And also another advantage that we have is that he promises that, no matter what situation or no matter what is going on around us, that if we lack the wisdom that we need in that situation, then all we have to do is ask.
- 15:00Audrey McCracken: Now God says in James 1, if any person lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives liberally, generously to all, without finding fault, and it shall be given him.
- 15:15Audrey McCracken: I'm so glad he adds that part without finding fault, because that means it doesn't matter how foolish I was 10 minutes ago.
- 15:25Audrey McCracken: If I'm serious right now and I ask him for wisdom, he's not going to deny it, he's not going to scold me, he's not going to say, well, not now, look how you messed up, he's just going to give it.
- 15:38Audrey McCracken: And I appreciate that, because to ask for wisdom it requires us to humble ourselves and admit we don't have wisdom.
- 15:46Audrey McCracken: And he upholds the humble, but he resists the proud.
- 15:52Audrey McCracken: And so we have that advantage that we, the God of the universe, the one who made everything, the one who knows everything, promises to give us the wisdom we need if we'll just humble ourselves and ask.
- 16:05Audrey McCracken: And so I want to encourage you in that today.
- 16:10Audrey McCracken: One of the things that the Lord has been putting on my heart lately is seek wisdom.
- 16:16Audrey McCracken: Let wisdom be a priority in your life.
- 16:20Audrey McCracken: You know, with all of these things going on in my life right now the coffee shop, the church, my life right now the coffee shop, the church, the kids, my marriage, our home, all of the things pulling at me, needing my attention I had, I found myself at a point where God time with God was definitely on the back burner, and I could tell because I was easily shaken and frazzled and worried over things that would not typically shake me.
- 17:38Audrey McCracken: And you know, for a while I'm like, oh, is it my hormones?
- 17:42Audrey McCracken: Is it my diet?
- 17:44Audrey McCracken: And I had to come to the realization that no, it's that.
- 17:49Audrey McCracken: I'm not praying, I'm working in my own strength.
- 17:51Audrey McCracken: I'm not renewing my mind.
- 17:54Audrey McCracken: All of the worries of the world are just, they're attaching themselves to me and I'm not doing anything to wash them off.
- 18:02Audrey McCracken: I'm not doing anything to get rid of them.
- 18:04Audrey McCracken: I'm taking them on as my own.
- 18:06Audrey McCracken: The enemy is just throwing things in my mind and I'm just taking them up and like they belong to me and they're not mine and they're not true.
- 18:15Audrey McCracken: But without that time with God, without that time to draw along and be with him so he can wash off the lies, so that he can remind me of who I am in Christ, so that he can remind me of the things that he wants me to be thinking about, then I'm weak and I'm an easy target, and so he's been reminding me.
- 18:43Audrey McCracken: Leave the crowd, get alone with me, spend a little bit of time with me, and when you come back, you'll still have the same issues.
- 18:52Audrey McCracken: You'll still have the same problems, but you'll see them through my eyes.
- 18:57Audrey McCracken: You'll see them in comparison to God, and they're really small compared to him.
- 19:04Audrey McCracken: So I just encourage you seek wisdom.
- 19:08Audrey McCracken: That's what he's been telling me.
- 19:10Audrey McCracken: Seek wisdom, seek me and I will bring everything into order.
- 19:16Audrey McCracken: I'll bring it into perspective.
- 19:18Audrey McCracken: You know one of the things I've been reading.
- 19:21Audrey McCracken: I've been reading Proverbs and I want to read for you a few scriptures out of Proverbs 8.
- 19:30Audrey McCracken: It says Does not wisdom call out?
- 19:32Audrey McCracken: Does not understanding raise her voice?
- 19:35Audrey McCracken: At the highest point, along the way where the paths meet, she takes her stand Beside the gate leading into the city.
- 19:45Audrey McCracken: At the entrance, she cries out to you oh people, I call out, I raise my voice to all mankind.
- 19:51Audrey McCracken: You who are simple, gain prudence.
- 19:55Audrey McCracken: You who are foolish, set your hearts on wisdom.
- 19:58Audrey McCracken: Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say.
- 20:02Audrey McCracken: I open my lips to speak what is right.
- 20:05Audrey McCracken: My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.
- 20:11Audrey McCracken: All the words of my mouth are just.
- 20:15Audrey McCracken: None of them are crooked or perverse.
- 20:18Audrey McCracken: To the discerning, all of them are right.
- 20:24Audrey McCracken: They are upright.
- 20:25Audrey McCracken: To those who have found knowledge, choose my instruction instead of silver Knowledge rather than choice.
- 20:33Audrey McCracken: Gold for wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with her.
- 20:42Audrey McCracken: The Lord is encouraging us to seek wisdom above all things, above riches, above status, above comfort.
- 20:53Audrey McCracken: Choose wisdom because it is that valuable.
- 20:59Audrey McCracken: We live in a world that does not value wisdom.
- 21:03Audrey McCracken: They value knowledge.
- 21:05Audrey McCracken: They think if they gather all this knowledge and know enough stuff, then they can figure everything out.
- 21:13Audrey McCracken: But knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom.
- 21:16Audrey McCracken: Knowledge is knowing stuff.
- 21:21Audrey McCracken: Wisdom is knowing things and knowing how to apply those things to our lives in a way that honors God.
- 21:35Audrey McCracken: Wisdom is much more valuable than just knowledge.
- 21:39Audrey McCracken: Knowledge may be true, it may be good, it may be true, it may be good, it may be right.
- 21:45Audrey McCracken: But wisdom is knowing how to apply that knowledge in our everyday lives in ways that honor God.
- 21:54Audrey McCracken: And he promises that if we lack wisdom, he will give it if we asked.
- 22:01Audrey McCracken: And I think of wisdom as treasure.
- 22:04Audrey McCracken: You know, he says right here, it's more precious than gold, it's more precious than silver, it's more precious than anything we could ever desire.
- 22:12Audrey McCracken: And I think of wisdom as a treasure that we save up and as we grow older and we keep saving it and we keep saving it, then, hopefully, as we mature, we grow in wisdom and we become more and more wise and less and less foolish, because we've all got some foolishness Right, and my hope, my desire for us is to live as women of wisdom, that we have enough wisdom not just for ourselves but for other people, because you've got people in your life who are looking to you and they will come to you, come along beside you and pull from you, and you want to be able to give them something of value.
- 22:58Audrey McCracken: You know, for me, it's my children.
- 23:01Audrey McCracken: My children don't come to me like they, like they did in the past, so when they do, I want to make sure I've got something good for them.
- 23:12Audrey McCracken: A couple weeks ago, one of my kids, who has been very, very busy, came in while I was reading in my room and sat down on the floor and just started talking to me and, by the grace of the Lord, I had enough wisdom to say, oh, this is a special time.
- 23:31Audrey McCracken: He doesn't do this very much.
- 23:33Audrey McCracken: I'm going to put my book down and just listen, and as I did, he started pouring out things to me, things that he hasn't really spoken to me about.
- 23:43Audrey McCracken: I kind of saw him struggling with some things, things that he hasn't really spoken to me about.
- 23:45Audrey McCracken: I kind of saw him struggling with some things, but didn't feel like he was open to my wisdom, to my words.
- 23:53Audrey McCracken: But here he was, sitting right here in my room, pouring these things out, looking to me for my advice, asking me for advice, and so the Lord opened up that opportunity, and my prayer, even as I'm talking to him, even as I'm listening to him, is Lord, give me your words, lord, let me have wisdom in this situation.
- 24:18Audrey McCracken: You know, he's asking me for wisdom and he's coming to me and I shared with him what I saw, what I thought, and then I prayed with him.
- 24:26Audrey McCracken: But see, as you store up wisdom, it's not just for you, it's for those around you who look to you or who one day will look to you for wisdom, for direction, for insight.
- 24:43Audrey McCracken: And so I see it as that's what we're doing we're storing up not just for our own self, but for those we love, so we have something to give to them when they're in need.
- 24:54Audrey McCracken: But where do we get this wisdom?
- 24:57Audrey McCracken: Well, the first place we get this wisdom is God's word, which is why it's so important that we spend that time that we carve out time, even when it's really busy, to have those minutes with Jesus.
- 25:15Audrey McCracken: See, we'll get so busy we'll think, well, I'm okay this day, or I'm okay for a couple of days.
- 25:22Audrey McCracken: And, guys, that happens to all of us for a couple of days.
- 25:27Audrey McCracken: And guys, that happens to all of us.
- 25:28Audrey McCracken: You know, there's days when I wake up running and I lay down at night exhausted.
- 25:31Audrey McCracken: But if I go like that for so long, I'm going to give out a steam, I'm going to give out a gas.
- 25:38Audrey McCracken: I've got to draw alone beside the Lord and listen and get in his word.
- 25:45Audrey McCracken: But I want to read to you Colossians 3.16.
- 25:50Audrey McCracken: Paul says in Colossians 3.16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
- 25:56Audrey McCracken: Teach and admonish one another in all wisdom and with gratitude in your hearts.
- 26:03Audrey McCracken: Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God.
- 26:09Audrey McCracken: That's what I want to do.
- 26:10Audrey McCracken: I want to let Christ's word dwell in me richly.
- 26:14Audrey McCracken: I want to be rich in the word.
- 26:16Audrey McCracken: The only way to do that is to get in the word and I want to be able to admonish, to encourage others with that wisdom.
- 26:24Audrey McCracken: And I want to have a heart that's full of gratitude and I want to have a song that's always on my lips and I want to be able to share those things with those around me so that it's pouring out.
- 26:38Audrey McCracken: You know it's pouring out to other people, so that the things that God has fed me with I can feed them with.
- 26:45Audrey McCracken: Isn't that good?
- 26:47Audrey McCracken: Now, god, he doesn't want us to be foolish, he wants us to be wise and we can grow in wisdom.
- 26:58Audrey McCracken: But, like I said, the last podcast that I did, I talked about that tree.
- 27:00Audrey McCracken: It takes time, we grow slow, but the most important thing is that we grow, is that we keep growing, is that we keep taking in God's word so we can be strong, so we can be the men and women of God that have not just enough for ourselves, but for others.
- 27:21Audrey McCracken: I hope that this has been an encouraging word to you and a blessing.
- 27:24Audrey McCracken: I hope that this has been an encouraging word to you and a blessing.
- 27:26Audrey McCracken: And before I let you go, I want to pray with you and just tell you how thankful I am to be back, how glad I am to be back with you, and encourage you to reach out to me If you listen, if you're a new listener, if you've been listening for a long time and you've never connected with me, please send me a message.
- 27:44Audrey McCracken: You can find me on Facebook.
- 27:45Audrey McCracken: You can find me on Facebook.
- 27:46Audrey McCracken: You can find me on Messenger.
- 27:47Audrey McCracken: You can find my email in the show notes.
- 27:50Audrey McCracken: But just reach out and say hi, father, I just thank you for these precious ladies who are listening today.
- 28:01Audrey McCracken: I thank you that you have wisdom for them.
- 28:02Audrey McCracken: That Lord, whatever situation they face, lord, whatever difficulty, whatever place they find themselves right now that they're not alone.
- 28:10Audrey McCracken: And Lord, you want to give them wisdom in the midst of all the foolishness around us.
- 28:16Audrey McCracken: That, father, you want them to stand on solid ground.
- 28:20Audrey McCracken: You want them to be confident as a mom, confident as a woman, confident as a friend.
- 28:27Audrey McCracken: That Lord, you want them to have enough not just to meet their needs but, lord, to give to others when they come, when they come to them for help.
- 28:38Audrey McCracken: And I pray today for your wisdom.
- 28:40Audrey McCracken: You said if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives liberally to all without finding fault.
- 28:45Audrey McCracken: Man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives liberally to all without finding fault.
- 28:48Audrey McCracken: Father, we ask you for generous wisdom that you would just pour it on liberally, lord.
- 28:52Audrey McCracken: That, lord, you wouldn't hold back.
- 28:59Audrey McCracken: And Lord, that you would show us how to so value that wisdom that it would be so precious to us, that Lord, we would not hold it loosely, but we would store it up, lord, in our hearts.
- 29:07Audrey McCracken: In Jesus' name, thank you, father, amen.