Wisdom – You’ve Got to Want It!
Wisdom cries out in the street.
Proverbs 1:20 & 2:1-5, my translation
In open spaces she raises her voice. …
My son, if you take my word,
and store my commands within you,
Bringing your ears close to wisdom,
and stretching your heart to understanding.
If you call for understanding,
and use your voice for discernment,
If you seek her as silver,
And dig for her as buried treasure,
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
and find the knowledge of God.
In James 1:5, readers are told that if anyone lacks wisdom (and if you don’t think you lack wisdom, you probably do!) that person should ask God, and they will receive wisdom.
It’s as simple as that.
Well, maybe not quite that simple.
There’s a military aphorism that states: “In war, everything is simple, but nothing is easy.” The two halves of that saying illustrate the change from chapter 1 to chapter 2 of Proverbs. We have wisdom calling out, seeking people, being as obvious as possible. Then suddenly we turn around, and we are being told to listen carefully, seek diligently, even dig for it.
What’s going on?
Wisdom is, in fact, simple. Yes, simple. It’s out there everywhere you look. Right and wrong actions have consequences. Success or failure can be found in recognizing and acting on these things.
And wisdom is, in fact, available. You can discover wise ways of doing things. There are many places where wisdom is calling out, calling to you.
It might be
- An older person in your family who has a wealth of experience
- An expert in their field who can pass on good information and outline courses of action and results
- The physical world, where you can quickly learn about falling, living, starving, and even dying, and if you are observant, living!
- Somebody from another culture who may have a different perspective than you do.
- Somebody whose mind works differently than yours does.
- The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, working in and through people and creation.
- A younger person, viewing a situation with more innocent eyes.
- A good book, written by someone with experience and knowledge you lack.
Wisdom is everywhere.
Wise people are much rarer. Why is that?
You have to want it. Like the military aphorism, wisdom is simple. It’s out there. It’s available.
But wisdom isn’t easy. It calls out to you, but it doesn’t force you to listen or to act on what it says. You have to be willing to make changes, to act in ways that may be unfamiliar to you. You have to be able to recognize where you’re wrong. Or more importantly where you may be wrong, so that you can correct your actions–or not.
The problem is that wisdom is often uncomfortable. The wise thing to do is not what you perceive to be the fun thing to do. Following wisdom may hurt your pride. None of that is easy.
Over the years I have frequently been called on to pray with people about decisions they are trying to make. I’ve found that most of the time, the person I’m praying with actually knows what they ought to do, but they really don’t want to do it. What they’re praying for is an excuse to take a different road, one that is easier, or more satisfying to their pride.
When I reflect on those prayer times, I’m immediately reminded that I spend much time in prayer hoping that God will provide me with a different path, an easier path.
Proverbs 2 gives us the unpalatable answer. Yes, you can have wisdom. No doubt about it.
But you have to really want it.
(Featured image generated by Jetpack AI.)
