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Wisdom


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)
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)
          Yesterday, I wrote about asking for the wrong thing, and asking for the right thing. One of the right things I mentioned as wisdom. Today’s passage tells us that God not only gives wisdom, He’s generous with it. I pray for wisdom. I ask others to pray for wisdom for me. It’s been a priority prayer request for the past three years, at least. If you ask me – if you ask quite a few people I know – we would agree that I’m not wise. I’m foolish. 
          I would say I am foolish for several reasons. First, I’m a lousy judge of such things. Put wisdom on a table so that I can compare what I have to an objective standard, and what I have might compare well with the exemplar. Secondly, I don’t feel wise. Thirdly, I don’t have people clamoring for nuggets of wisdom from me. In fact, lots of people tell me I’m a fool. I’d agree with them, except for the fact that their reason for claiming that I’m a fool is because I don’t agree with them. 
          On the other side of this one, I’ve told people that I like to listen to what I have to say. I’ve found that I like to read what I’ve written. The reason isn’t that I’m enamored with the sound of my voice. It’s that every now and then, I catch something in what I’ve said or written that is good stuff. Deep. Profound. Maybe even wise.
          Three things about wisdom that come to mind this morning. The first is that God is generous with it. One of the lies that I tell myself when I pray is that if I want or need what I’m praying about, I won’t get it. Everyone else gets miracles, I get nothing. Except, that’s not what Scripture says, so it’s not true. The second is that God doesn’t find fault with those who seek wisdom. The second thing deals with the other lie I tend to tell myself, that while God is generous, there’s something wrong with me that what He can trust with everyone else (wisdom) He can’t trust with me. 
          The last thing about wisdom is that it is like so many other gifts God gives. It comes to us gift-wrapped. There’s an old quip about not praying for patience, because if you do, bad things will happen, and you’ll have to wait. Experience is the gift-wrap. I’m beginning to see that experience is the gift-wrap of a lot of things God gives us – especially the best things.

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