James 1:5 KJV
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James switches gears a little bit and addresses the matter of wisdom. Now I say he only switches a little bit because we need wisdom to discern the trials and tests that face us all the time. It is important that we understand God has a reason for allowing things to come into our lives and often this takes wisdom. We have talked about what we gained through trials and tests the last few days. Now it is time to share what we need while we’re going through them and that is wisdom, along with patience, faith and joy.
James tells us here that when I am going through these trials, or any other time that I’m not understanding, I should ask God for wisdom. To me wisdom means being able to take the knowledge and the understanding that I have and apply it to the situation that I’m in. Believe me there are often times that I don’t have wisdom. Sometimes I get into the middle of one of my posts and realize that the wisdom that I need to continue the train of thought is not present. So I stop, pray and ask God for the wisdom to continue. He always comes through.
What often happens to me though is I get into the middle of a situation and I try to figure it out myself. I go back through every step I to get here and I look at it how it started and I try to figure out, in our my understanding, why this is happening to me. Now all that isn’t necessarily. It would be much easier for me to just ask God for wisdom in the first place. He obviously has the wisdom to be able to help me. Remember Solomon? When God said he could ask for anything Solomon ask for wisdom. God told him because he asked for wisdom he would be blessed beyond his wildest dreams. I believe that applies to us too. If we will ask God for wisdom the windows of heaven will open and pour out a blessing that we cannot contain.
The Bible tells us that wisdom has been around since before creation (Prov 8:22). It also tells us a fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). It also tells us that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1 Cor 3:19). So many people follow the wisdom of this world instead of the wisdom of God and think they know the heart of God. That is literally an impossibility. Without the wisdom of God we stand as fools. We need his wisdom every day. And the funny thing is that He gives it to us liberally if we just will ask. That means it will flow into us in large quantities at the time we need it. I use the King James version and it says that God upbraids us not when we ask for wisdom. That means He is never angry or upset that we are asking for wisdom. So we should be coming to Him all the time asking Him to give us wisdom in these situations.
And then there’s a guarantee at the end but it shall be given. Now we have to take into account that God does things in His own time and we have to be patient. We just talked about that at length. But He promises that He will show us the reason for the test in the trial in His own time. All we have to do is ask and He’ll give us the wisdom to work through it. This takes great listening skills because we have to cloud out all that the world is throwing at us, including the trial we are going through. I hope that you will take the time to do the asking
Be blessed!
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Loved it Pete! I pray for wisdom and knowledge before my days begin. I always ask the Holy Spirit to give to me the wisdom, knowledge, and guidance that I will need to accomplish all I have to do in that day.
I have a question for you. If it is too personal please do not answer. When you found out you had cancer, and you were trying to understand the whys and how comes of it. What wisdom do you feel you got from the Lord? God Bless, SR
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The list is long, but I will try.
The wisdom to trust Him
The wisdom to choose my provider carefully
The wisdom to talk with my daughters and calm their fears
The wisdom to know when do extend my physical exercise further
The wisdom in the words that I wrote during that time (this was HUGE)
The wisdom to trust my wife and HER WISDOM completely. This encompasses a whole lot of my recovery efforts.
The wisdom to grow my relationship with my best friend and watch him grow further in the Lord
The wisdom to share with those around me mercy of God in my life
The wisdom to know all was mercy – ALL OF IT.
As you can see, give Him all the glory for the wisdom He has given me through this. i could never have walked through this cancer on my own, and don;lt know hoe others can do it. he has guided me every step of the way. My understanding and knowledge would be wasted if I did not have His wisdom to apply it to every area of my life. I depend on Him!
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Thanks Pete. I did not mean to get personal but I was just wondering what one does ask for when they are faced with this kind of situation. You inspire me with something every time you write, which will usually lead to a question with me. God Bless, SR
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I love your questions! I live by Proverbs 5 & 6. I would suggest, even f you know them, that you take a moment to meditate on them and see what they really mean to your Spirit. Then you will see a little deeper into where I come from.
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Will do . Was just reading Proverbs 6 yesterday. God Bless, SR
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I’m sorry. I meant Prov 3:5-6. My mistake
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Excellent and insightful post!! This is simply an area where I must develop a habit everyday excuse me every hour to ask God for wisdom thank you Pete
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You’re most welcome
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It’s great to be able to read another of your James series. I think my last article finally got me to a certain point of summation, and even though there is more to write, I know longer feel such an urgency in me, as I have. So I can slow down and smell the roses again, and these articles are some fine roses! Bright red and white!
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Thanks my friend. I have fallen behind on my reading, and Ma planning to get to yours today or tomorrow. Glad you’re enjoying James!
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