Wisdom

Almost all of us want to possess wisdom. We want to do the right thing and know how to handle different situations. But what exactly is it, and how can we get it? Let's start off by defining wisdom. Dictionary.com says wisdom is "knowledge of what is true, or right couple with just judgement as to action; sagacity discernment, or insight." Knowledge of what is true; that's definitely something I want to have. Often times we get mixed up between Earthly wisdom and Heavenly wisdom. There's a couple different types of Earthly wisdom that we see. People considered wise in this world are sometimes people who have gone through a lot in their lives and have a lot of experience with many different situations. For example, we usually consider our parents wise because they have already gone through the things that kids go through. Another group of people we consider wise are Chief Executives Officers and other financially sound people. They obviously must be doing something right to get into an important position. But are all of these people really the ones we should look up to for wisdom? While there are a lot of things we can learn from experienced people, it's not necessarily the wisdom that the Bible says we should be searching for.

Colossians 2:3 tells us that "In Him lie all the hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Sounds pretty clear to me that God is the giver of wisdom. Also, wisdom and knowledge are often used together throughout the Bible. They go hand-in-hand. You can't have wisdom without first having knowledge. Once you have that knowledge, God gives us wisdom which helps us to understand that knowledge and put it into use. Now how can we get wisdom? It's pretty simple, as we know from Solomon. All we have to do is ask for it. 

Tonight I was at our youth group's Bible Study Vespers, and the speaker was talking about wisdom. He gave an interesting perspective on wisdom that I hadn't thought about before. He was saying that wisdom is a miracle. It is a true gift from God that always seems to come at the right time, yet we hardly ever recognize it as a miracle. Often times when we are struggling with something in life, it is resolved because someone was given wisdom. Whether you were the one that received it and was able to guide yourself out of the situation, or whether someone else used their wisdom to help you out, someone usually was given wisdom. Next time you're in a tough situation, ask God to give you and others around you wisdom. When the situation is resolved, look back and see if wisdom helped clear it up. 

The Bible also says some pretty good things about those who have God's wisdom:

 "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. though it cost all you have, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7 (notice again, wisdom and understanding used together)

"Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city." Ecclesiastes 7:19

"Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off" Proverbs 24:14

Sounds like a pretty good thing to me. I definitely want to be wise, but we have to make sure that we are getting it from the right place. I hope you'll join me in asking God for wisdom today.