60 Seconds – The Sons of Issachar.

Charlie Steinmetz was a dwarf with a deformed body. However, he possessed one of the greatest minds in the specialty of electricity the world has ever known.

He built the generators for Henry Ford’s first auto plant. One day, those generators broke down, and production came to a halt. A few mechanics and technicians worked effortlessly, but could not solve the problem. Every hour the plant was down meant a large loss of money. Finally, Ford called Steinmetz back to the plant. The genius came in, tinkered around for a few hours, threw the switch, and the plant returned to full operation.

A few days later, Henry Ford received a bill from Charlie for ten thousand dollars – a considerable sum of money in those days. Although Ford was extremely wealthy by this time, he returned the bill with a note that said, “Charlie, isn’t this bill just a little high for a few hours of tinkering around with those motors?” Steinmetz returned the bill, stating, “For tinkering around on the motors: $10; for knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Total bill: $10,000.” Henry Ford paid the bill.

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, we read of the sons of Issachar, that they “had understanding of the times.” “Understanding” means “knowledge, wisdom.” It is from a word in Daniel 11:30 that is translated “intelligence.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr., in Live And Learn And Pass It On, wrote, “You can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. After that, you better know something.”

When Paul and Luke were attempting to ascertain the will of God concerning the direction of their ministry, we read, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia, stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’

Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:9, 10). The word “concluding” employed by Luke is a very suggestive one, meaning that “they put this and that together.” They worked together in fellowship and consultation, considering their situation and this vision, to make an intelligent decision.

Someone has said that “the world’s greatest area of undeveloped territory lies under people’s hats.” Proverbs 4:5, “Get wisdom! Get understanding!”