DAY 4 — Wisdom Starts Here | Proverbs 1:7

Key Verse: “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge.” (V.7)

 Big Idea: Real wisdom starts with taking your Creator seriously. 

🎧 Listen to Today’s Audio Here

Solomon had said someone might join us today, but I still wasn’t prepared when I walked into the café and saw a woman already sitting at our table.

 She looked mid-thirties, maybe early forties. Professional. Composed in the way people get when they’ve had to hold things together for a long time. Her coffee sat untouched in front of her, and her eyes kept drifting toward the window like she was trying to decide whether to stay or leave.

 Solomon arrived a moment later, linen shirt, silver-streaked hair, that familiar calm trailing him like a wake. “Good,” he said, setting his leather notebook on the table. “You both made it.”

 Both.

 “This is Mara,” he said, gesturing toward her. “She’s standing at a crossroads. Today’s verse has a way of showing up right there.”

 Mara gave a small, tired smile. “I hope that’s true.”

 Solomon opened the notebook and turned it so we could see the words written clearly across the top: Proverbs 1:7.

 “The fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge…”

 I felt my body react before my mind caught up. A subtle tightening. A mental step backward.

 The Lord.

 There it was.

 I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms without meaning to. “Okay,” I said. “I need to pause right there.”

 Solomon didn’t flinch. He just looked at me, attentive.

 “This,” I continued, “is where things usually fall apart for me. I can follow wisdom, patterns, cause and effect. I’m even open to the idea that the universe isn’t random. But once we start talking about God… I don’t know. That’s not really a road I planned on walking.”

 Mara glanced at me, then nodded slowly. “Same,” she said. “I didn’t come here for religion. I came because my decisions aren’t working anymore.”

 Solomon listened without interrupting, fingers resting lightly on the notebook. Then he tapped the table once—gentle, grounding.

 “Good,” he said. “Now we’re being honest.”

 He looked at both of us. “Fear of the Lord doesn’t mean being religious or scared or panicked. It means reverence. Respect. It means recognizing that you are not the highest authority in the story you’re living.”

 I frowned. “So wisdom starts with admitting I’m not in charge?”

 Solomon smiled slightly. “Yes. And that’s exactly why this verse unsettles people.”

 He turned the notebook and sketched two circles—one small, one much larger around it. “Most of us live as if the smaller circle is all there is: our instincts, our preferences, our fears, our logic. A God-fearing person understands the larger circle exists—and that it shapes the smaller one whether we acknowledge it or not.”

 Mara stared at the drawing. “So what does that actually look like in real life?”

 Solomon answered without hesitation. “A God-fearing person is steady. They’re humble. They don’t rush to justify themselves. They can hear correction without falling apart. Their emotions don’t run their decisions. Their ego doesn’t drive the room. And they care deeply about not crossing lines that matter — not out of fear of punishment, but because they don’t want to live at odds with the One who designed those lines in the first place.”

 He looked at me. “They don’t treat life casually, because they believe it was designed intentionally.”

 That word landed harder than I expected.

 Mara swallowed. “I’ve been acting like I’m in control,” she said quietly. “But I’m exhausted.”

 Solomon nodded. “Reverence doesn’t weaken you. It grounds you. It gives you a place to stand when your own judgment has run out of answers.”

 I looked away, watching people rush past the café windows, all of us pretending we know exactly where we’re going. “I’m not sure I’m ready to sign up for God,” I said.

 Solomon didn’t push. “I didn’t ask you to sign up for anything,” he replied. “Wisdom doesn’t begin with certainty. It begins with honesty. Sit with the verse. Let it question you instead of you dismissing it.”

 He closed the notebook softly. “Wisdom always starts where resistance shows up.”

 He stood, offering Mara a quiet nod, then glanced back at me. “Tomorrow, we’ll talk about voices. The ones you trust. And the ones quietly shaping you whether you realize it or not.”

 As he walked out, Mara exhaled and shook her head slightly. “I didn’t expect that to hit so close.”

 “Yeah,” I said. “Me neither.”

 I didn’t feel convinced.

 But I didn’t feel preached at either.

 And that unsettled me more than I expected.

 Three thoughts followed me as I left.

 What? Wisdom begins with reverence—recognizing that reality includes a Creator greater than ourselves.

 So What? Avoiding that idea may feel safer, but it also limits how deeply wisdom can steady and reshape our lives.

 Now What? Don’t rush agreement or rejection. Sit with the discomfort and let the questions do their work.