The Great Search for Wisdom
Everyone is different in the way they deal with their life challenges. Whether the challenge is health, money, relationship, emotions, addictions, the challenge each person faces is real. Just like pain, each person’s pain tolerance is different when it comes to their life challenges. Each person deals with different amounts of life challenges, like plates, some people can put a lot on their plate and other people’s plates are small and can’t handle so much – regardless, everyone has an edge to their plate where things start to fall off and messes are made. At the point where we are at the edge of our life plate that is where we need help. When everything can stay on our plates without too much inconvenience our life is pretty much under control, but there are times in our lives when things get dumped on us, maybe they came from nowhere(like a health problem) or maybe we took them on not realizing it was going to grow to be this kind of challenge (like getting married or having children) or maybe someone else dumped on us and we didn’t want it at all but now we have to deal with it (like a family relationship challenge or a problem at work) it is at that point I need new insight in what to do, I need answers to problems, I need a strategy to make it through the challenge, I need to know what the problem really is – I need WISDOM.
What is Wisdom?
We may have some idea of what wisdom is = this intangible insight, understanding, information that I need that will help me work through the challenges of my life to make my problems go away = right. And in a very basic sense – wisdom is the ability a person has to create strategies to accomplish the results he / she desires in her life. But, it also is a bit broader than that,
wis·dom [wiz-duh m] –noun
1.the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight. Random House Dictionary,
Wisdom is more than education – in the Biblical sense – a child who simply trusts and obeys God has more wisdom than the greatest intellectual who does not trust and obey God.
Wisdom is something we grow in –we can grow in understanding, knowledge, discretion, judgement, decision making skills, but wisdom comes as we learn to apply God’s truth and His ways with our knowledge and understanding so we experience the blessings of God.
At the same time Wisdom comes at a cost. With more wisdom comes the tinge of sorrow and pain as we see things from God’s perspectives. We begin to see how tragic the human condition is and we see more clearly how rebellion against God has marred and scared our world and our own lives.
We also discover that wisdom is not fixed, as we can grow in Wisdom we can also decline or destroy wisdom. A person who was once wise can become a fool while he maintains his knowledge and intelligence. Just as Solomon was at one time said to be the wisest person who lived, by the end of his life he was a mess of a man because of the bad choices he made to satisfy his own pride. And his children were postured to leave a horrific legacy on Israel.
A person who wants to acquire wisdom must encounter Two precursors to wisdom –
- The first one is HUMILITY
Prov 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Humility involves a spirit of deference and submission – the first will be last, the last will be first (Matt 20:16) Deference = willingness to bend, be flexible in a situation; Submission = willingness to put others first serve others (Matt 20:26)
Humility shapes our relationship with God, we defer to His wishes and to His will – for our life and how He has put the world together.
Humility also affects our relationship with other people, we recognize them as equal to us before God and as worthy of just and kind treatment as we are. Humility allows us to rejoice when others are blessed and we are not.
Humility shapes our own self-concept – how we view ourselves. In proper humility we do not think more highly of ourselves than we should, rather we think of ourselves with sober judgement. We are willing and able to humble ourselves in the sight of ourselves and others to exercise wisdom
Humility sets the stage for Wisdoms arrival from God. The proud, arrogant person misses the opportunity to experience the wisdom that only humility can bring
If/when we allow pride to grow in our lives we cannot and will not experience God’s wisdom.
- The second precursor to Wisdom is the FEAR OF THE LORD
In the fear of the Lord, our concern in life becomes to please God in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions –
Prov 9:10
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For a person to develop and grow in the Wisdom that God brings into a persons life with the skill of dealing with a broad range of life’s challenges, we must enter into a relationship with God described as the Fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is a profound respect for God and only then can the Lord become our instructor to teach us wisdom. God is often going to teach us wisdom through a number of methods and means, His Word, prayer and other people – His children, His church, and as they challenge us, encourage us, teach us if we do not have humility and fear of the Lord, we will not let God teach us His wisdom.
When we believe that God is the only one who holds all things together and he is the one who knows everything – I am learning from Him – always – I am in a postion to grow in wisdom.
The person who thinks they are equal or independent from God is the one who misses wisdoms blessings and eventually falls prey to life’s trials.
I met someone this week who at one time in their life had a close walk with Jesus, but now as they grew older and wiser in their own eyes, their pride and arrogance had deterioriated any amount of wisdom they once had and they were suffering to lifes challenges.
How do we know when we have encountered real wisdom?
In Proverbs wisdom is personified as a woman who is calling out to people and in
Prov 8:8-9
8 All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse.
9 To the discerning all of them are right;
they are faultless to those who have knowledge.
Prov 8:20
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
Wisdom has already declared in Prov 8 all the tremendous capacities she can grant and how she will bless those who love her and seek her.
And it says we will find her on a road with 2 curbs – the Two boundaries that define wisdom.
One is Righteousness and the other is Justice.
Always doing what is right before God and treating others justly. Apart from righteousness and Justice you will never find God’s wisdom and you will not find wisdoms blessing or successes.
A wise strategy for life is one where the goal and all the individual steps lead towards righteousness of God and justice towards people. A godly person is a righteous and just one.
When we desire to bring about God’s right way of living – it means we know, can discern and identify a wrong way of living. Anything that compromises truth, is a lie. Unearned gain is either a gift or stolen.
A wise person will be concerned for the wellbeing of others, everyone else involved. Their interests go well beyond themselves but desire to make sure everyone succeeds.
We know we need wisdom – How do I get wisdom?
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Ask God –
Asking God is more than just praying and saying “God please give me wisdom...” but it is the sense of turning my attention to him and his ways. I am going to ask and give him my ear
“2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,”
When God shows his wisdom – he is revealing himself and God loves to reveal himself and so he gives us his wisdom, so we see him and his ways, His love and justice for his people.
God gives wisdom, Generously, Without finding fault
You may have made some terrible mistakes in the past but that will not disqualify you from experiencing God’s generous supply of wisdom.
You may be going through a terrific trial right now in your life but God is generous with His wisdom.
As we go through this book of James, God is going to challenge us in our thinking, in our attitudes about Him, ourselves and how we relate to others around us – especially those we would just as soon not have to relate too – God is ready to give you wisdom in how you can respond in right ways.
BUT... realizing the truth of God’s wisdom will cost you...
James 1:8-8
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Will I trust God that He knows – has the knowledge, insight, understanding to show me what to do and how to live?
James 1:6-8
6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.NLT
We can be very critical of God and his ways – what it means to doubt – questioning, challenging, sceptical, critical of God – and when we take this approach we are actually judging God – we are making ourselves equal with God, knowing just as well has he does to discern what is true and right and we distrust God.
As we get older and more educated we become less likely to trust God and his ways – and we don’t receive his benefits.
We “think” we “know” more - what the Bible calls being “wise in our own eyes”
Prov 26:12
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
James uses an illustration of waves of the sea that are always moving. We like to keep our options open. We want something sure and solid, just not always sure where it might come from so we keep one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat. Eventually you have to choose which you will trust.
We can be just like that as we trust and relate to God as adults. We think we know better and we try to manage life and God and things don’t seem to work when God tells us to do something that requires humility or high regard for him. We think we know better and compromise God’s righteousness or honest concern for others and we struggle.
As we go through James this summer we need to decide who are we going to trust? He is going to challenge us on how we view power, money, ourselves, others, and we will be tempted to make excuses for ourselves and in the long run miss the transformation process God wants to do in each of us.
Prov 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
To experience God’s wisdom we are going to have to trust that God’s ways are true and right, that caring for others and serving them will lead to wise decisions.
Let your heart be softened by God’s spirit – so you can trust him
Commit to trust him when he tells you what to do
Give your life to him
Give your intellect to him