Strength and Wisdom – Proverbs 20:29

I used to work for a guy who had all kinds of sayings for every situation.   One of his favorites was, “Like a bull in a Chinese closet.”  I think he was referring to the idea that a bull in a china dishes shop is dangerous because its brute strength has no discernment nor dexterity to prevent it from doing an amazing amount of financial damage.  There’s a glory to the bull’s strength but not to its wisdom.

The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. (Proverbs 20:29, ESV)

What is it you bring to the table?  That question assumes that it is up to everyone to bring something to the table, to be able to make some contribution to the benefit of the community of humans that you are a part of.  It assumes that everyone is needed, every contribution important.  And we might properly think of all contributions as fitting in two categories, strength and wisdom.

I love watching the TV show “Fixer Upper” with Chip and Joanna Gaines.  They take houses in need of renovation and make them gorgeous and more functional.  From a simplistic standpoint, Chip supplies the muscle, demolishing the portions of the house that need it, putting up new structures, hoisting heavy pieces of sheetrock and installing huge beams to take the place of loadbearing posts.  Joanna provides the plans for what needs to be done and puts the beautiful finishing touches of lighting, furniture, and décor on the final product.  Strength and wisdom.

Youth brings with it strength.  You have the energy to do the physical stuff, do the legwork, spend the extra hours working, etc.  Gray hair means you’ve experienced a lot and learned a lot and have perspective, knowledge, wisdom and experience to bring to the task.  Where are you in that picture?  It is possible, of course, to have both strength and wisdom in measure.  The point is to value both and use what you have.