Seek God for Wisdom!
Thank you for joining us today. More than ever we need to have the wisdom of the Lord guiding our lives. It always amazes me to think of all the ways the Lord has provided for His children. He loves you so much. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring revelation of His Word to you as you read today. Eric
In the past, when asked, "What is wisdom?" we have offered a pretty simplistic answer. We have defined wisdom as 'knowing how to appropriately use the knowledge we have.” Upon further study, we have added to that definition. Wisdom is an invaluable virtue which comes from the Lord.
There is a 'worldly' wisdom which mankind has, however, we see that the Scripture very clearly contrasts man's wisdom with God's and man's wisdom falls short. 1 Corinthians 3:19a (BSB) reveals, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.” HELPS Word-studies defines 'foolishness' moria literally as dull, lacking sharpness or folly. Why is this true? Human judgment is darkened by human perception. Still today, mankind lives in a fallen world and the enemy's influence is substantial for those who do not know Him and are not in relationship with the Lord. Isaiah 55:9 reveals, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Sadly, for many of our young adults studying in our universities, the curriculums have become inundated with faulty ideas of truth which have come from the 'great thinkers" of the past, such as Socrates, Aristotle and Descartes who shared faulty ideas of truth, because they left God out of the equation.
Wisdom, true wisdom is from God and is given through the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word sophia, translated 'wisdom' in the New Testament means,: "Wisdom broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters; skill in management of affairs." (Thayer's Greek Lexicon).
"The Hebrew word, chokmah is translated 'wisdom' in the Old Testament. Chokmah is the comprehensive, God - centered quality of mind and life that discerns what is truly right and acts accordingly. While fundamentally moral and spiritual, it embraces practical insight, technical skill, administrative aptitude and relational discernment" (Bible Hub Topical Lexicon).
God is the true source of all wisdom. This truth is illustrated perfectly in Daniel 2. All the wise men of Babylon were sentenced to be executed because they could not recount nor interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The Lord revealed the dream and the interpretation to Daniel in a vision.
Daniel was praising God for the revelation and expounded on the greatness of God by recounting Who He is and what He does: "Wisdom and power are His, He changes times and seasons, deposes Kings and raises up others, gives wisdom and knowledge, reveals deep and hidden things, knows what lies in darkness and light dwells in Him." He responds to our prayers and is worthy of our praise!
God is the true source of all wisdom.
"The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Psalm 111:10). "Wisdom is portrayed as trusting God's guidance rather than human understanding." (Bible Hub Topical Encyclopedia).
It is so easy to fall back on our own wisdom gained by our own experience. However, we do not see the whole picture as God does. Proverbs 3:5-7, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil." In these verses, we are instructed to trust in the Lord and not lean on our own understanding. We are not to be wise in our own eyes but are to fear God and shun evil. If we are wise in our own eyes, we are being prideful. Pride deceives the heart and can blind us to sin. If we refuse correction from God, we are in rebellion, which is 'as the sin of witchcraft.' (1 Samuel 15:23). Wisdom begins with us being humble and having a willingness to be taught by Him.
God does not hide godly wisdom from us, He gives it to us when we ask for it.
Wisdom is a gift from God and is available to all who seek it. James 1:5 (BSB) teaches us, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask from God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Praise God, when we ask, He gives it generously and He doesn’t fault us for not knowing what to do.
Psalm 119:130 is a great Scripture - "The unfolding of Your words give light; it gives understanding to the simple." 'Unfolding' means: opening or disclosure. 'Light' means enlightens or illumines. This verse is referring to that very special time when the Word of God moves from the 'written text' to being 'revealed truth' to us. That means, we have a personal encounter with divine illumination! Pretty exciting to think about! It also means we have to be cautious to reject or not take wisdom from other sources.
How much value is there is having wisdom? Proverbs 16:16 (BSB) reveals, "How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver." We are to seek wisdom as we would seek for hidden treasure. (Proverbs 2:4,5). Wow! How much do people miss out because they spend all of their time seeking worldly wealth rather than the much greater worth and value of having the wisdom of God to guide them throughout their life?
We must follow God's directives, even when we do not understand them. If we say we trust God with our whole heart, then "we can't place our own right to understand above His right to direct our lives the ways He sees fit." (gotquestions.org).
If we insist that we need to understand what God is doing in our lives (if it must make sense to us), we are setting ourselves up for trouble. Our limited understanding of wisdom can easily lead us astray. Proverbs 16:25 reveals there is a way that seems right to a man, but it leads to death. I will remind you again, that God sees the end from the beginning and often times, we might think we know how things will play out however, God knows exactly what will take place.
Godly wisdom looks very different than worldly wisdom. One 'worldly’ view example states - love your neighbor and hate your enemy. God's view tells us to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us. We see time and time again that often, Godly wisdom requires that we do that which is the opposite of our natural inclinations.
When should we actively ask God for His wisdom? Every day, before any and every decision we make. I appreciate this quote from Healing Hearts International Ministries: "You are who you hang out with, period. If you are not asking Holy Spirit to give you the knowledge and wisdom of who you are spending your time with, what conversations you're having, whether your relationships are challenging you to be better or challenging you to stay just where you are, it's going to make a very big difference on your freedom and your growth." I pray you can see the absolute truth in this quote. Whether we think it is true or not, we are affected by those we keep company with. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom concerning every relationship, friendship, situation and circumstance you encounter.
God's Word is God's wisdom and there are some aspects of His wisdom that we do not need to pray about. For example - His Word instructs us to not be unequally yoked. A believer should not have to pray about whether or not they should date a non-believer. However, once he/she begins to date a believer, they definitely should ask God concerning whether or not that individual is whom they should marry.
I've already stated that you should pray before making any and every decision you make. Always follow the directives and leading of the Holy Spirit. If you do not have or have not yet received a directive from Him - Pray and ask for it. Then listen and follow His leading.
Some examples of things to pray about before making decisions are:
Buying a house; building a house; which contractor to hire; buying a car; where to go on vacation; what college to go to; whom to date or marry; which doctor to go to; who should be your friends; how to reconcile with an enemy; what books you should read; what movies you should see; what tv programs you should watch; how to witness to a neighbor; how to pray for an ill friend...
I would encourage you to pray the prayer in Colossians 1:9 and 10. This prayer is for believers to be filled with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him is every way. Lord let it be so for us!
I will close with this quote by J.I.Packer: "Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty, acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours."
Unless noted otherwise, scriptures were taken from the English Standard Version
BSB Berean Standard Bible