Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice. (Proverbs 1:20)

She is as old as time, or at least as old as God. You will find her at funerals if you look for her. Weddings, too. And hospital rooms and some churches. She will not be rushed, or microwaved, or multitasked. You will not meet her when you're frantic, distracted, or proud.

Her name is wisdom.

There is an extreme arrogance about this generation. I'm not singling out millennials, I am talking about everyone alive today - myself included. We think we’re the smartest people to ever live and that we’ve evolved into the upper echelon of humanity. But we’re still eating Tide Pods. We’re overweight and unhealthy. A large majority of people will forsake their marriage to stay up late and look at naked people on their computer. We drink depressants to make us happy.

There's really no getting around it, though I've tried. It's impossibly unpopular. No one can understand it, and it, to many, impeaches the character of God.

He afflicts.

It's not that every hurt is caused by his hand. Every bald-headed child in a cancer ward. Every mother holding a limp child in a bomb crater. No, not every affliction is his.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:11-12)

The devil isn't some Sunday school threat to coerce children in believing in God. He isn't some archaic attempt to define what's bad in this world. He is a very real force, and he is on your heels.

He will destroy you if he can, and he'll leave your faith like shattered glass on the floor.