"Happy is the person who finds wisdom."
Proverbs 3:13a
Every task that God gives for us to do has within it the realm of possibility for its accomplishment. Some tasks are easy to perform, while others will take nothing less than divine intervention.
When we look at the opportunities that God gives to serve his purpose on earth, we will need to apprehend and appropriate the wisdom. To apprehend means "to lay hold of." To appropriate means to "make suitable use of."
When a creative solution is needed to a dilemma, wisdom sometimes directs us to throw away "fences." Fences are limiting concepts that we allow to influence our goals and dreams. Because of these concepts, we throw away ideas and dreams that we are sure we'll never be able to realize. They also cause us to lower our goals, with the result that we strive for and achieve far less than our capabilities.
We should never surrender creativity to fences. "Fence thinking" is the thought process that says, "It's never worked before, so why should it now?" Or, "This is the way it's always been done, so it must be the best." We are all guilty of "fence" thinking at one time or another.
Consider the following true story. In 1956, the old elevator at the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego could no longer handle the "people" traffic. The experts — engineers and architects — were called in. They concluded that they could put another elevator in by cutting a hole in each floor and installing the motor for the new elevator in the basement. The plans were drawn up. Everything was in order. The architect and the engineer came into the lobby discussing it.
The janitor, who was there with his mop, heard them say they were going to chop holes in the floors. The janitor said, "That's going to make quite a mess."
The engineer said, "Of course. But we'll get more help for you, don't worry."
The janitor replied, "You'll have to close the hotel for awhile."
"Well, if we have to close the hotel for awhile, we'll close the hotel. We can't possibly survive without another elevaÂtor," the professionals replied.
The janitor held the mop in his hands and said, "Do you know what I would do if I were you?"
The architect arrogantly asked, "What?"
"I'd build the elevator on the outside," the janitor said.
The architect and the engineer just looked at each other. As they considered the possibility of the idea, their creative juices flowed. They built the elevator on the outside — the first time in the history of architecture that an elevator was built on the outside of a building. And it all started with a simple janitor who dared to think outside the box.
Those who say it can't be done shouldn't stop the ones doing it. Don't let "box thinking" hold you back. Life's circumstances are full of possibilities and opportunities. When dealing with the impossible tasks of life, I invite you to pray for, seek and apply godly wisdom — for there is nothing that you and God cannot get through together.
As always, see you next week and have a great day.
Rev. Carl S. Mesiti is pastor of Niedringhaus United Methodist Church in Granite City.
