Searching For Prudence: BY LaVaughn Landry

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Proverbs 16:20
The wise in heart shall be called prudent…

What does it mean to be called prudent?  You could be called rich, intelligent, well educated, famous, or popular?  Some are even called beautiful and good looking…others physically strong and well conditioned. 

There are many noble things to which we can aspire to become in life.  However, in my own personal life …“prudence” probably is the one characteristic with which I personally struggle most to emulate.  Even when I have utterly failed in life…at that moment…I have always tried to pause for a moment…and move from my foolish posture…to a wiser and more stable one.  However, I have not always been very successful at doing so.

In today’s society we put too much emphasis on the wrong things…and therefore, we are now reaping the consequences of such ignorance.  The word prudent means to understand, perceive, or to be able to discern.  Intelligence does not necessarily indicate prudence.  A person can be full of knowledge concerning a variety of issues… but that does not mean that that person has a wise heart.  We could be a doctor, engineer or scientist…or even one of the most successful businessmen in the world… but if our private life suddenly begins to be tossed back and forth, and begin to tumble to the ground for any variety of reasons…at that particular moment…we probably have some pretty huge gaps somewhere in our lives.  If we can gauge, and even predict successfully intricate financial market turns…but fail to discern the status of our own heart, we probably are part of that demographic of folks that needs to take a couple of steps back, and then reevaluate how to move forward.   

So from where does this element come?  If we lack it, where can we find it, or obtain it?  The fact of the matter is that you can’t get it simply from reading a book…or even this article.  There are not enough articles that could help you discover prudence. Why? Because it is a condition of the heart…and the heart is the driver of the vehicle of life.  It is what determines the destination of life.  If we need to change the direction of our lives, we must change both the content and status of what is transpiring on the inside. 

God is the only person that I know who can change a heart and soul…because he is the original creator of it.  He has a program to reboot it.  The first phase of this program is called redemption and forgiveness.  It was activated upon the entire conscience of humanity through the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago.  All we have to do to access it…is to simply ask for it!  And it is in this continually growing relationship with God and his Word…where prudence is planted…and where it can continually grow…each and every single day of our lives! 

“God, create in me a clean heart…and renew in me a right spirit!”