Are you prepared to seem foolish in the eyes of other people?

Yesterday we’ve seen how important it is to promptly obey God’s voice.

The second warning I want to give you is: be prepared to seem foolish in the eyes of other people. In 1 Corinthians 1:25, Paul said, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (NKJV). If you believe that what people think is wise, you may miss God. In his same letter to the Corinthians, Paul is very emphatic:

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him be-come a fool that he may become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV)

To become truly wise, you have to start by be-coming a fool. Many people stumble over that, but there are many examples in the Bible. Noah built a ship on dry land when no one had ever seen rain.

That was foolish, but it was the wisdom of God. Naaman, the captain of Syria, went down into the Jordan River and exposed his leprous flesh by dipping himself seven times. How foolish! But he was healed. Then, in John 9, there was the man who had been born blind. Jesus placed clay on his eyes and then told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. How foolish he must have looked, groping his way to the pool of Siloam with clay on his eyes! But he was healed.

There was a situation in my own life years ago when I was preaching in East Africa. I held a seven-day series of services, and at the end of each message I said, “If anyone wants me to pray for his healing, stand up and I’ll pray for you.” There was a blind woman led to the meeting by a boy; every day for six days she stood up, I prayed, and nothing happened. I became embarrassed for her. The seventh day she was there again. I said, “If you want me to pray for your healing, stand up!” She stood. I closed my eyes and prayed, but I could not help wondering, “What’s going to happen to that poor woman?” When I opened my eyes, there she was, walking forward without the boy to show that her eyes had been healed! You see, she had to be willing to become a fool first.