Wisdom

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. Psalm 111:10

How many times have you said, “I wish I knew what to do about....”. You can fill in the blank. We all have decisions that we need to make. God’s wisdom is our hope for making the right one. God’s word says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5” It sounds simple, right? We certainly need to seek God’s face and ask for His guidance. God’s word does not stop with just telling us to ask. There are additional instructions for us to follow. Verse 6 in James 1 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” We often stop reading after verse 5 and focus on just the asking part. We are really good at asking but we also have to believe. We must believe He will give us the wisdom we seek. We must believe that what He tells us is for our best. Even after you have asked and done your best to believe, do you still wonder what is right?

It is humbling to stop and think how God sees our doubt. We are often blown and tossed about giving place to the devil. The devil loves to get us second-guessing what we should do. He likes us to stay confused. After all, he is the author of confusion. If we are confused and worrying our decision is right then he can keep us from the fullness of God’s wisdom and the peace God gives with the right decisions. It is a good thing God is wise enough to completely spell it out for us. James 3:13 says, Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Verses 14 and 15 go on to tell us if we harbor envy and selfish ambition that this “wisdom” is unspiritual. Decisions made with these traits will lead to disorder.

We can checklist the wisdom of our decisions by using verse 17. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace- loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” The next time you are faced with a hard decision ask God for wisdom and get out the checklist from James 3:17. Believe in His answer and leave it with Him.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

Pastor Julia Scott