Life can be confusing. Here’s something that’s guaranteed to help

3 min read

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith…

James 1:5-6

Do you sometimes find life to be a little confusing? Okay, dumb question.

More than ever, it’s easy to get disoriented. When you’re surrounded by conflict and chaos, it is normal to feel a sense of uneasiness about the best way forward. In decisions related to our relationships, career, or life-in-general, we may find ourselves with a bad case of the hesitations.

What do I do? How do I handle this?

Truly, no matter who you are, every day presents new challenges and opportunities which call for wisdom. Specifically, the sort of wisdom that comes from above.

But hold on, wisdom is different from knowledge. A person may be knowledgeable about many things yet lack wisdom as to how to best use their knowledge. Knowledge has to do with information, while wisdom is about life. If knowledge is power, wisdom is king.

“How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.” -Proverbs 16:16

There’s a scene from the life of Solomon that is helpful in this regard. Solomon was the son of David and the heir to the throne. As a young leader entrusted with a lot of responsibility, he realized he was in over his head. That’s why, when God asked him what he wanted most, Solomon requested wisdom.

He could have asked for money, fame, etc. but instead Solomon asked God for “a discerning mind” (1 Kings 3:9) so that he could differentiate between good and bad and right and wrong. Rather than having the attitude that he would just figure it out on his own, Solomon took on a different posture. He was open to divine input. In fact, he prayed for it.

Now fast forward in the story to when King Solomon was presented with an impossible task of judging between two ladies claiming to be the mother of the same infant. Remember this scene? Because Solomon had requested wisdom from God, he was able to make an incredibly shrewd ruling on the case: He told them to cut the baby in two and give each woman a half, knowing that this would cause the real mother to give up her claim so the child could live.

Brilliant.

The good news is that God is still happy to give wisdom to those who request it. That’s a guaranteed promise found in James 1:5-6 (quoted above). For the person who is willing to acknowledge that they lack wisdom and will look for it in God’s direction, He promises to come through for them. It may be through a Bible verse, a word of counsel from a friend, or through the still-small-voice of the Holy Spirit, but God still provides wisdom to the wisdom-seeker.

Every now and then I have opportunity to pray with my friend, John. When it is his turn, he includes in his prayer something like this: “Dear Lord, please give me wisdom because I lack it on my own…”

Funny thing, John is one of the wisest people I know.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.