But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
New English Translation
Wisdom. It’s crucial to… staying alive. Really. It is. Wisdom occurs in every moment of life, whether we decide to acknowledge it or not. We have to choose wisdom; it doesn’t just happen. I know, bummer, but, again, free will and all that jazz.
So, how do we know what wisdom is? Is it just the simple stuff like “don’t cross the cross walk until signaled to” or “use your turn signal” or “don’t cuddle a boa constrictor”? Actually, those don’t even qualify for the wisdom category because those are just common sense… I mean really, why would you cuddle a boa constrictor?
Wisdom is the ability to differentiate between what we want, the world wants, and what God wants and choose what God wants. See, it doesn’t even count as you having wisdom if you aren’t willing to choose what God wants… because without choosing it, you really just missed the whole point.
You may be asking, if it’s just making the right choice, why do I need to ask God to generously give me wisdom? Good question. The reason being is that you are asking God to help you identify what His will is so that you can then fulfill it. Again, it only counts if you follow through.
Have you ever heard someone comment, “Oh, that was a wise decision.”? When does that comment get made? After someone thinks something and speaks it into the air? Or after that person physically fulfills that “wise” choice? Right, after it is acted upon. Thus, you must not allow yourself to fall into the mindset that wisdom is all a head thing.
Wisdom is a full process. Let’s say that you were given a math problem on a test. You look at the question and instantly know the answer, however, you never write it down. You turn in the test and inform your teacher that you know the answer in your head but you receive a zero because you never did anything with it.
Having the answer and doing nothing with it is the same as never having had the answer at all.
The same is true when it comes to wisdom. You can have the head knowledge of what God wants you to do and then never do it at all. That is the same as never having had the knowledge of what the right thing to do is. Thus, another part of requesting more wisdom from God is asking Him to quicken you to do His will.
I want to challenge you with something. Stop thinking of wisdom as smarts and start thinking of wisdom as action. Not just any action, though. Action motivated by doing God’s will for His glory. Take some time today and try to apply wisdom to your situations. Just stop and pray that God will guide you to knowing what His will for this situation is. Again, wisdom is beyond common sense. Your goal isn’t to simply not be stupid, it’s to fulfill what God has for you and to do it for His glory.
