Skip to main content

Asking for...

             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)

 

BibleGateway.com seems to be picking a lot of favorites recently, and my reaction to this one is a meltdown of begging and pleading, “Oh God, please, please, pretty please give me wisdom.” Of course, Solomon’s request for wisdom was related to his doing his job as king. My desire for wisdom might be said either to be for wisdom for wisdom’s sake, or so that others look at me in wonder at my great wisdom. Where there is a specific question, I may fuss, but at least I have the security of knowing God will work on it. When one seeks wisdom as – effectively – a figment of one’s imagination about an apparition, God seems to have enough wisdom of His own to make the lesson in wisdom He teaches about waiting and patience.

There’s another condition under which God seems reluctant to provide. If one says one wants wisdom, and God reveals that wisdom to you through Scripture, common sense, or some other means, and you turn away from it, perhaps even asking for some other answer, it’s not likely that He’s going to change His mind and come up with something more agreeable to you. If He tells you not to marry that guy or eat that cookie, He’s not likely to tell you to marry him or eat it the next time you ask – and if He does, you may have a difficult lesson to learn from it, as Balaam did.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more