DAY 14 | It’s the Pattern, Not the Moment

Proverbs 3:5–6

Wisdom is rarely about one dramatic moment.

When I was in college, my mom used to say, “Hon, nothing good happens after midnight.” At the time, I thought she was just trying to keep me home so she wouldn’t have to worry. Now I realize she was trying to keep me alive. It wasn’t only about my behavior. It was about the fact that late nights often come with variables you can’t control. I could be making good choices, but still end up in situations shaped by other people’s decisions. She was trying to keep me from environments where risk increases.

And now, at this stage of life, if I’m awake after midnight, something has already gone wrong. I don’t need an adventure or a party. I need sleep.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to see that her words weren’t just parental worry. They were wise. She had lived more life than I had. She had seen where certain roads tend to lead. And out of love, she was trying to steer me toward a life that was not just fun, but wise.

That’s a picture of how God deals with us.

He isn’t trying to limit our joy. He’s trying to protect it. He places boundaries not to cage us in, but to keep us from falling off cliffs we didn’t see coming.

Every day we make a thousand decisions. Most feel small. What time we go to bed. How we speak to our spouse. What we scroll. Who we text back. But those little choices quietly stack up and shape the kind of life we live on the other side of them. Wisdom is rarely about one dramatic moment. It’s about steady, ordinary faithfulness.

If you want a more peaceful life, live wisely.

If you want more margin, live wisely. If you want to marry the right person, please, live wisely. God cares about every one of these areas. And He’s given us avenues to live wise. This is why He’s given us the gift of a local church that has both peers and spiritual leaders in the community. He’s given us His very Spirit which points us to all truth. And He’s given us His Word so that in every circumstance, we can find His leading.

His Word is not an outdated rulebook meant to hinder your life. It’s a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, guiding us step by step into a life that is truly blessed.