wisdom

i want to be wise. i seek to be wise. i call out for it and desire it. has it worked?

i cannot say if i really am 'wise' or if i am not, but i can say that i am wise-'er' than i have ever been before. and it is 100% attributable to God. how do i know this? because...

i value wisdom

when king david died and his son, solomon, took the throne, solomon had a dream. in this dream, God came to him and asked him what He could do for solomon.

solomon told God that here he is, the king over God's people, and yet he doesn't know how to 'come in' or 'go out' in front of them. he felt lost, like he just didn't know how to reign well.

so he asked for wisdom.

and God told him that because he didn't ask for wealth or power or for his enemies to be crushed, that he would grant him his request. and not only grant it but make him wiser than anyone has ever been before or since. dangit!

and then!... God also said that because he asked for wisdom instead of all those other things, that he would also give him all those other things. he gave him wealth and power and crushed his enemies.

there's a takeaway in there somewhere.

if desiring wisdom to live out the purpose God has called you to is that important to God that he would do all that for solomon just for asking for it, then it must carry a very high value. regard it as such.

i seek wisdom

i was trying to read through proverbs a few years ago, but i kept getting snagged at proverbs 2 and just kept re-reading it like i was stuck in a loop or something. i was mesmerized by the idea of seeking after wisdom - of searching for it as though it were a lost coin.

now if you're anything like me, if you've misplaced a five dollar bill you will tear the house apart looking for it. and then if you don't find it, you tear the house apart again. and i will not give up until i have recovered that five dollar bill.

i thought about 'tearing the house apart' seeking wisdom. imagine the diligence and the focus you would put into the search. it would consume your thoughts until you found it. and then you would hang onto it. check every once in a while to make sure it is still there. guard it. care for it. and if you spent it you would do so with much thought and intentionality.

i pray for wisdom

for the Lord gives wisdom. it says so, right there in verse six. well, then, if he is the one who gives it, then i guess i oughta be seeking it from him.

i'm reading some chapters in john right now to prepare for our mission trip to uganda and in chapters 15 and 16 it says that if you ask anything in Jesus' name the Father will give it. the way i see it, wisdom falls under the category of 'anything'.

if i am wiser now than i have ever been it is because i have asked God to give me his wisdom. and if i ask it in Jesus' name the Father will give it to me [so that i will bear fruit. and that pleases God].

you want wisdom? go to the wisdom maker and the wisdom giver.

i pray out loud for wisdom

i believe there is power in the spoken word. after all, God didn't 'think' the world into existence, he spoke it.

and verse three says to 'call out' and to 'raise your voice' for understanding. and in verse six it says that knowledge and understanding come out of the Lord's mouth.

there just seems to be some power there in saying it out loud.

i put wisdom in its place

while wisdom is highly valued and we are encouraged to ask for it. it will not keep us on the right path. it's what we do with it.

solomon wrote in ecclesiastes how vain everything in life was without God. everything. he was so wise that he got that. like, really got it.

and yet later, he had ashterah poles erected to please one/some of his wives because of her religion. and God, of course, got angry. wouldn't you? if someone pledged to love you and you alone and then you find out they've put 'worship poles' up of someone else? well, that's what solomon did to God. whether his heart was in it or not, that's what he did.

that tells me that even after all this wisdom that solomon had (more than anyone else before him or since), and even though it was the kind of wisdom that gave him great perspective on the vain pursuits of life without God, it wasn't enough. it didn't guard his heart.

we aren't 'done' when we get wisdom. our pursuit of a godly life doesn't stop because we receive a gift along the way. we keep pursuing!

and just because we've got some smarts, doesn't mean we are no longer subject to temptation. in fact i would venture to guess that we may be subject to further attacks because we are now a greater threat to our enemy. it's why the king is always a primary target in a war - because he is the greatest threat to his enemy. it's why chess isn't over when a pawn is taken.

value the wisdom, seek it, in prayer, out loud. but remember to further value and seek and clamor out loud for the one who created and gives wisdom.

i guess i said all of that to say this: if i can be considered wise at all, i want you to know where i go to get it. you have the same access to wisdom as me. but keep a steady mind about you, because it's not all about the wisdom but what you do with it that counts.