Wisdom Times Three
Recently,
I’ve found myself studying and reading a lot about wisdom. It hasn’t been an
intentional thing, it just dawned on me this morning that much of what I’ve
been consuming in terms of books and podcasts have had this underlying theme. I
don’t believe this is a coincidence. (You can definitely place me in the camp of
“all things happen for a reason”, so I generally don’t put a lot of
stock in the “it’s just a coincidence” explanation.)
What struck me earlier today was something
new. I will typically journal (for those unfamiliar, yes, that word can be used
as a verb) about what I read during my early morning “quiet time.” Often, it
will turn into a prayer of sorts, for myself or others. When I did so this
morning, I gained a new understanding of the depth and importance of wisdom, as
a concept. This is my attempt to put in into words and share with you what I learned.
If you’re nodding your head right now and saying to yourself, “well, yeah, of course!”, then you have my permission to stop reading and move onto something else. If, however, this sounds a little quizzical to you (like it first did to me), then stick with me and I’ll do my best to explain.
When you look up wisdom in the dictionary, you read, “ability to discern inner qualities and relationships.”[i] The synonyms used are the likes of insight, judgement, and knowledge. Of course, this makes perfect sense. You would probably agree with all of that. What I never thought about before though, is this: What good is wisdom, if we stop at just knowing? Mustn’t we actually do something with said knowledge, or wisdom? One of my favorite all-time quotes is from Johann von Goethe, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume you have a big decision to make. To make it even more specific, let’s pretend you’ve been offered a job that would require you to move across the country. Not a decision that can be made lightly. If you’re like me – and since you’re reading this blog, I have to assume you have some leanings in this direction – you’re going to do some serious praying about the decision before you.
But what is your prayer? Something to
the effect of, “Lord, what should I do?” This is important! You may know what you
would like to do, but you go to The Father because you only want to do it if it
is His will. Through prayer and whatever way you speak and hear from God, you
are attempting to discern His will for you in this decision. The wisdom here,
is that you are not just making the decision based on what you want, but
rather, seeking guidance from God. Discerning what is the right thing to do is
just the first step in the process.
Now, suppose the job offer is on the
coast and you’ve been wanting to live near the ocean your entire life. Assuming
other things line up well, relying just on your judgement, this decision is
easy-peasy – “We’re moving to the beach!” And, if your honest conclusion, after
prayer and “discussion” with God is that the move is in His will, you are all
set. You’ve got the green light from God to start packing. Oh, if it were
always so easy…
However, what if all of your praying
and discerning is leading you to the conclusion that God’s will for you is to
stay put? Hmmm, now it’s not so easy, is it? I will interject here that we
probably spend at least twice as long (or much longer) praying for direction
when we feel God’s will is different than ours, than when we are in initial
agreement. We want to give God time to agree with us. (“Maybe I’m not asking
right?” “Maybe if a little more time passes and He sees how much I want this?”)
When God’s answer is different than what we want, we get to the second part of
the wisdom process – courage.
It takes courage, and a great deal
of trust and faith, to make that decision that seems to you to be the wrong
one. In our scenario, we’re focused on our “wants” but you can come up with
many scenarios (and probably examples from your own life) when the thing God
wants you to do makes no sense in the natural. It is then that the rubber meets
the road and you really have to trust not only that you heard God properly, but
also – and mainly – that God Himself is trustworthy. When His will and your
will line up, it doesn’t take a lot of valor to go along with what he says. But
to follow His will when it differs from what you think or desire or expect,
that takes courage.
At this point, we’ll refer again to
the Goethe quote: We know (we’ve discerned), we’re willing (we’ve had the
courage to make the decision), now we must… Do. Let’s be honest, this is often
the hardest part. This is the part that really requires the obedience and
surrender to His will to live out the decision that you’ve made. Back to our
scenario… We want to move to the coast, but we turned down a job opportunity –
because we discerned it would not be wise to take that position – that would
allow us to do so. How do you respond? Do you whine? Do you take it out on
everyone around you? Do you second-guess what you heard God say? Pause here for
a second and really think this through. How we respond matters. Our attitude
matters. Remember, it’s about trust and confidence in God.
Ideally, at this stage the conversation with God continues. You’ll probably want clarification. “But why, God? It seemed like such a perfect fit!” That’s a fair question to ask, but be prepared to not get clarity, at least right away. This is more of where the real obedience comes in. The mindset of, “I’m going to do what you want me to do, even – and especially – when it doesn’t make sense to me” is, I think, what God is really looking for here. A surrendered heart to Him. His will, not ours.
So, to recap, Wisdom can really be considered a three-part process. Listed with them below are verses to keep close to you that represent each aspect
1.
Discernment (of God’s thoughts and will in a given situation.)
Isaiah 30:21 – Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your
ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “this is the way, walk in it.” (NIV)
2.
Courage (to make the tough – but right – decision.)
Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the
LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: In all your
ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)
3.
Obedience (and surrender to what God has made clear.)
1 John 2:5 – But those who obey God’s word truly show how
completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.
A question for you before we wrap this up: Which one of these steps is hardest for you? None of them are easy. And the higher the stakes (of the decision to be made or the situation needing clarity), the harder it gets. Is it hearing from God in the first place? Is it pulling the trigger and making those tough decisions? Or is it acting on it, and walking it out with grace and obedience? Whatever the case may be, I pray this is helpful to you. Maybe thinking of it this way will bring more clarity and understanding to the whole process.
[i] Merriam
Webster Dictionary Online, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wisdom,
accessed February 25, 2021
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