Bill Johnson - How to Reign in Life
What does it look like to honestly reign in life? What does it mean to not be a victim and to not be controlled by the circumstances of life? In recent days, with all kinds of strange things happening in the nations—things that are outside our control—none of them are masters over us. Hey there, welcome back! I’m glad you’re joining us. I mentioned last week that I wanted to take what seems like a bit of a detour, and it will make sense shortly as it will set us up for this exploration of wisdom, the mind of Christ, throughout the Book of Proverbs. Here, I want to read one verse from the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5 of Matthew, where Jesus says, «You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.» This doesn’t sound like a verse that goes with the subject of wisdom, but it actually does.
Here’s the deal: it says, «You are the salt of the earth,» but if the salt loses its flavor—that word «flavor» literally means «foolish.» So, salt without flavor is foolish. What is salt with flavor? It is wisdom. What happens to salt that loses its flavor? It has no purpose. By the way, salt enhances pepper, the other most common spice in this culture. Salt enhances flavor; pepper changes flavor. What God has designed us to do is to sprinkle into culture and society to enhance the already God-given gifts planted in our society and our city, bringing them out in a divine way.
But here He says salt that has lost its flavor has two things: number one, it’s foolish; and number two, it’s trampled by men. Did you know that the purpose of Proverbs, the purpose of wisdom, is to equip us to reign in life? I have this wonderful friend, Brian Simmons, who is doing an amazing job on the Passion Translation. Something I love so much is his statement at the beginning of his introduction to the Book of Proverbs. He says, for example, that the Hebrew word for proverb, «mashal,» has two meanings: the first is «parable» or «metaphorical saying» that expresses wisdom. But the second meaning is overlooked by many; the homonym «mashal» can also mean «to rule,» «to take dominion,» or «to reign with power.»
Think with me: what is the purpose of wisdom? It is to enable us to reign in life. That’s it! It is to enable us to reign in life. Many will react to that statement because we have a secular idea of what it looks like to reign in life; it’s to rule over people, to be the dominant one, to be in charge of everything. Personally, I don’t think it’s good for the church to be in charge of everything. I feel we need to serve well and love well, and then God promotes us to be in charge; that’s wonderful. The point is that we have an impact by serving well. If you look at Daniel, Joseph, or Esther, none of them were in charge of their countries, but they influenced the destiny of multiple nations because they served in their positions well, honestly, with divine wisdom.
Back to this: Proverbs enables us to reign in life. That’s an actual statement found in the Book of Romans, of all places—the road of salvation penned by the Apostle Paul. He says, «Those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.» Reign in life! What does that mean? It means that I stop being a victim. It means money doesn’t control me; I control my resources. It means I’m not a victim in my relationships; I manage my heart well and my conduct well, as far as it depends on me, as Paul said, «Be at peace with all people.» I manage my life in a way that wisdom enables me to do so. I literally reign in life; I rise above the circumstances of life, and I don’t become controlled or victimized by everyone else’s wishes and conduct.
That truly is the way Jesus lived. He wasn’t controlled by anyone; He wasn’t obnoxious—none of those things—but He reigned in life. Literally, He reigned in life. There wasn’t one situation that overwhelmed Him or overcame Him. I want to encourage you in this pursuit. I hope I can say that this pursuit we share to explore this lifestyle of wisdom—what does it look like to honestly reign in life? What does it look like to not be a victim and to not be controlled by the circumstances of life? In recent days, with all kinds of weird happenings in the nations, things outside our control, yet none of them being masters over us, in divine wisdom, you and I become the people who influence others righteously. We get to inspire hope in others.
Years ago, one of our ladies emerged from a time of prayer and told one of our staff members that the Lord had spoken to her. She shared a word that I think all of us have embraced and literally shared worldwide: «The person with the most hope will always have the most influence.» If you look at the subject of wisdom in Scripture, wisdom sponsors and fuels great hope because wisdom knows the beginning and the end of a matter and understands the process. I believe the Lord is giving us a gift of wisdom, along with the ability to stay connected. You remember Jesus said, «Don’t worry about what you’re going to say in that hour; you don’t have to prepare for what you’re going to say because, in that moment, the Holy Spirit will show you what you’re supposed to say.» That’s the hearing ear part of divine wisdom.
You and I, with confidence in God’s ability to speak loud enough for us to hear, will hear wisdom at the appropriate time. My oldest son has a hearing loss, and he hasn’t been healed yet. I have always taken it upon myself to speak loudly enough. I never punished him for not hearing me. If I spoke and he didn’t hear me, it was always my responsibility to ensure I was heard. I’m not a better father than he is. So, I want to encourage you that the Lord is preparing us to bring great hope and literally to reign in life. We learn how to follow wisdom so that the circumstances of life don’t manipulate and control us; instead, we use them for the glory of God. I pray that for you; I pray that for every one of us in these coming days that we would be encouraged and strengthened in this great journey of pursuing divine hope.
Now, I want to encourage you: next week, we will look at what my personal pursuit of wisdom looks like in the Book of Proverbs. We’re going to start with chapter one and explore what it means to be a son learning wisdom. That’s where we’ll start next week. Join us!