Proverbs 9:1

Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars

A popular Korean drama once aired on Netflix. The two main characters were taking a slow walk down the street in their neighborhood at night. The older character, a structural engineer who designs commercial buildings, begins a conversation about buildings but later transitions to thoughts about life. Below is the dialog:

Older Character:

Every building is a battle between external and internal forces…wind, load and vibration. We calculate all the possible external forces then design the internal forces stronger than that.

Internal forces must always be stronger than external forces.

Life is that way…a battle between external and internal forces. No matter what happens, if you have internal forces, you’ll last.

Younger Character:

What are the internal forces of life?

After a long pause,

Older Character

I don’t know.

In Proverbs 9:1 – 6, Wisdom has prepared everything you need to protect you from the “external forces” of life, i.e., sexual immorality, sensuality, idolatry, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, divisions, envies, and drunkenness (the works of the flesh, Galatians 5:19 – 21). Wisdom even raises Her voice and calls out to anyone who is willing to listen saying, “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” (v. 6) Where the older character fell short in his assessment of life, God supplies in full.

What “external forces” of life are you battling? Fighting on your own strength, i.e., emotional, mental and physical, will soon leave you exhausted and ready to crumble. Get your “internal forces” fortified by the Holy Spirit, with Wisdom from God. Only then will you be able to stand strong against the storms of life.