Each of us needs wisdom. It feels like we need an extra measure of it in this climate to wade through fact and fiction, to decipher good from evil. We need wisdom on who to listen to, as well as to know from whom we should protect our hearts and minds.
We need wisdom on how to support the people we love through their difficulties, through uncertainty. We need wisdom on how to plan for our futures and how to get our finances in order. We need wisdom in helping our children navigate these times emotionally, and wisdom on their educations moving forward.
We need help making decisions on things that used to be basic, like if we should leave our house, which store to go to and at what time. We need help getting our businesses and organizations back on track. We need wisdom on how, when and what to communicate, to know when to open our mouths and when to shut them. We need wisdom to know when to activate and when to be still. We need help, and we need wisdom, in every area of our lives from the big to the small.
God has wisdom available for us. The Bible, God’s love letter to us, tells us, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (James 1:5).
God does not want us to rely on what we know, what we perceive in our own emotion, or on what we hear from the emotion and hurt of others. He wants us to rely on Him.
Once the Bible encourages us to go to God for wisdom, it is clear about the posture of our hearts, if we want to gain it. “But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6).
I have a tough assertion, friends: Unless it is clear that it comes from the heart of Jesus, spoken directly out of or alignment with the Bible, you can’t trust the source. It’s tainted by sin. Even the most well-meaning of sources is human with personal biases. Each of us must measure our opinions against what the Bible says. We must also measure what others say against the Word before we imbibe it, before we drink it in.
Financial planning teaches us to diversify. Business plans teach us to diversify. In the world, we have learned that it is unwise to put all of our eggs into one basket. However, if we want real, true revelation – the kind that supplies us with the answers we need to make the important decisions at hand – we need our minds, hearts and emotions unified on one thing: Jesus. (The Bible tells us the Word, the Bible, was made flesh through Jesus. The words lept off of the page and dwelled among us in the form of Jesus, here on earth.)
In the book of James, we are told, if we want wisdom, our faith must be in God alone. We can’t step up to the prayer room and cast one vote at the foot of the cross then turn on talk radio, read the CDC guidelines, look at our S And P 100 Stocks, then tune into our emotions to compile our strategy for wise living. We have only one hope: God alone.
If you feel “unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind,” that’s because you have – we have – been putting our hope in a diverse portfolio. If we expect to get the wisdom we desire to make the decisions at hand, big and small, we must put all of our eggs into one basket. We must put our faith in God alone, or we won’t get wisdom. We’ll get tossed around.
I need wisdom. Too many important decisions hang in the balance to diversify my portfolio just because “that’s how I do things.” Nope. It’s time to scrap that way of thinking. Too many people’s lives are impacted by mine. I need real wisdom. I will put my hope in God alone. He is our only chance, our only hope, and His track record is proven!
God, I need wisdom. We need wisdom. You are generous. Your hand is extended to give it freely. I put my faith in you alone. You alone save. I repent for putting any faith in myself. I repent for looking to others to answer my questions or supply my needs when you are in full supply with arms wide open.
Jesus, I confess the only way to the Father, the only way to be saved from this mess of sin, the only truth there is, the only way to live, the way to abundance, is through you. So I come to you. I put my faith in you alone. I need you. We need you!
God, Please help us regulate our emotions. Please help us regulate our attention spans. I desire to turn the dial down on everything else because I want to put my faith only in your words and your ways. You are more than enough for me, Lord. Please help me from being tossed around with the waves of the world but renew my mind, making it more like yours. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sarah Guldalian 