This is a five-part series on allowing the wisdom of God to heal us from life’s disappointments:

Intro:  The Art of Traveling Light

Part 1: How to Travel Light in a Heavy World: Wisdom Takes Time

Part 2: How to Travel Light in a Heavy World: Wisdom is Free

Part 3: How to Travel Light in a Heavy World: Wisdom Requires Faith

Wisdom Works with Humility

 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

James 1:9-10

Italy was the trip we wanted to make before having a baby.  We arrived there not knowing what to expect because we were staying with my family and we didn’t know how to plan around their schedules.  We spent a couple of days with my aunt and uncle in their villa until they sent us off to Florence.  If you recall in The Art of Traveling Light, I had a few issues with my luggage the last time I was there.  However, I didn’t tell you the rest of my misfortunes ten years ago.

After arriving in Florence, my formerly over-packed luggage did not make it with me.  When we stopped in Munich, Germany, my suitcase was not checked in and it remained there.  I remember arriving to the small airport in Florence waiting for my suitcase.  I stood in front of the baggage carousel for a good hour (or two) and watched the same suitcases going ’round and ’round until there was none to claim.  My team had theirs and were ready to go, but I stubbornly wanted to wait hoping it would pop out of oblivion.  I spent a few days without my luggage, but I was hoping it would make it before my six-week stay would come to an end.  It miraculously did.

But that’s not all!  I was strongly advised by my Italian father to be cautious when walking around Florence with my purse because of the infamous gypsies.  I bought little locks to protect my purse from their acquisitive hands, but one unfortunate diversion while purchasing souvenirs in one of the piazza markets changed it all.  I lost over 200 Euros, my credit card, and allegedly my passport.  Immediately, I reported the incident with the Italian police, the carabinieri, and then I went to the American Embassy to obtain a new and a temporary passport.  I had to purchase a new passport for $99, which would arrive to my house in Miami in a few weeks.  I was also given a temporary one in order to return home when it was time to fly back.  While searching for my emergency stash of travel checks where I was staying in Florence, I found the passport I sworn had gotten stolen.

Side Note: This also happens to be the stolen and expired passport I took to England by mistake.

If that wasn’t enough, I also forgot to renew my passport after I got married and changed my last name and I almost didn’t make the trip with Kenny.  That wouldn’t have been a problem if I hadn’t booked my airline ticket with my new married name.  I risked my chances and submitted my passport application late, but thankfully received my passport the day before the trip.  Sigh.

As you can see, I am mentally clumsy, but I was elated to visit with my husband this time around to prove my 20-year-old-self wrong.  I had been through it all in Florence in 2006, ergo, I knew exactly what to do.  Or so I thought.

I felt a bit over-confident visiting a city where I had spent the summer once already, but I didn’t realize how much had changed in eight years.  I had been practicing Italian for a few weeks before our trip and I used to walk around Florence with little to no assistance when I was there.  When Kenny and I made it out of the train, we made our way to the bed & breakfast by foot because it claimed to be near the central part of the city where the train station is located.  We even had a GPS directing our steps… in Italian.  I had messed around with the GPS the night before and couldn’t change the language back to English.  In my broken Italian, I stopped in a few stores to ask for direction.  I didn’t want to admit to Kenny I couldn’t fully understand so we kept walking to nowhere.

I humbly turned the GPS back on and listened attentively to every word she was saying.  Finally, she said we had arrived.  But looking around the residential area we found ourselves in, I didn’t think our bed & breakfast would be there.  Kenny wanted me to call them, but I didn’t want to speak Italian over the phone. I insisted to keep walking and start asking around for direction again.  Everyone pointed us back to the same area as the GPS did.  At that point, I was overtly frustrated and did what I normally do when I’m overwhelmed and stressed out… I sat in front of a building and desperately cried like my one-year old currently does, gee, I wonder where he got it from… 

I finally gave in and called, but the nice lady over the phone kept repeating to me that we had arrived (siete arrivati!!).  I hung up feeling more confused than ever.  Did I understand correctly?  Were we there?

I cried some more.  Bystanders kept staring at Kenny as if he was the cause of my distress.  He started getting embarrassed and pleaded me to stand up before someone gets the wrong impression.

But his humiliation was cut short by laughter when he realized the building behind me was the one we were looking for this whole time.

I wasn’t sure if celebrating we had arrived would have removed the sting I felt inside of me.  I had to apologize to Kenny and admit I was wrong because I had allowed pride get the best of me. 

I had to be honest with him.  I didn’t know Florence as well as I presumed, but a new GPS had emerged and it spoke a universal language, Il Duomo.  If we ever got lost around the city, we only had to look at this stupendous cathedral to find ourselves back.

When pride comes, then comes shame;
But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

Just as Il Duomo was our compass in times of misplacement, James and Solomon both agree humility is wisdom’s vantage point.   Wisdom asks us to humbly look at our circumstances with God’s perspective.  She will only call our names so many times until we keep choosing to ignore her.  She warns us, however, if we continue to disregard her counsel, there will be consequences…

They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.  Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way…

Proverbs 1:30-31

When we allow humility in our hearts, we are simulatenously inviting wisdom in our souls to dictate our reactions when we feel lost and find ourselves in midst of trials.  However, the opposite can cause more permanent damage if we let it go too far.  Our pride may exalt our abilities temporarily and make us feel superior than the average person, but it only promises ruination in the near future.

When a wise man is corrected, he will not only welcome the rebuke with a humble embrace but he will learn to love it.

You can get knowledge from looking around, but you get wisdom only from looking up.

-Charles Lowery, Ph.D

The Bible tends to compare the rich with the proud and the poor with the humble, but it is not meant to be taken literally.  Someone could be wealthy while living a humble life just as a poor man could be adrift in his own pride.  True wealth is determined by how we choose to listen to Mother Wisdom because she will keep us safe “and secure, without fear of evil. (Proverbs 1:33)

If we listen, we are promised a rich life…

We are also instructed in Proverbs that Mother Wisdom is “more precious than rubies” and “her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.” (3:14-15)  If a rich man is merely rich in this world, then he will leave his only possessions without the promise of eternity.  However, if he is wise, he will possess new and heavenly riches.  Our material possessions stay in this world to be possessed by others or are simply discarded as if they never existed, but our souls are priceless and God is in the business of rescuing every single one of them. 

When we’ve been left astray with life’s disappointments, humility will not demand an apology when we’ve been wronged, but will meekly guide us to forgive in obedience to the economy of love.  If we allow Mother Wisdom’s compass to direct us through the path of humility, then we will be taken to new and exciting places we had missed if we continued down the same road of pride and arrogance.  We may lose 200 Euros along the way, but we’ve hopefully gained enough experience not to take the same uneven roads that led us to despair the next time we find ourselves in a similar scenario.

When we open up our ears to wisdom’s counsel, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to refine our character into one of integrity.  Our identity is no longer in our achievements or in our financial status, but in the One who’s gifted us with the ability to obtain such success. 

But as you will learn next time, wisdom isn’t reliant upon worldly success. 

By the way, our identity isn’t the one in our passport either, it is not our gender, our last names or our nationality, but do yourself a favor and learn from my mistakes:  Whatever you do, give yourself time to renew your passport; but once you have it, do whatever it takes not to lose it once you are out of the country!