Praying God's Wisdom: This is the Way

Image is a collaboration of myself, Gemini and ChatGpt

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. Proverbs 8:17

 It’s a cycle, a healthy one for once! The more we seek wisdom, the more we find wisdom, the more we want wisdom in our lives, so we seek it more and so on. The same is true with God, for “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6) and “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28). All true wisdom comes from God. There is worldly wisdom as well, but it goes towards the intellectual, not the eternal. The wisdom that is represented in this verse, and the rest of the chapter, is one that calls out to us in the streets. She seeks after rulers and peasants, the intelligent and the foolish. Likewise, Jesus died for each and every one of us and His Holy Spirit cries out to our hearts with the ultimate wisdom, come to God and lay aside your sin and shame.

 Wisdom says she loves those who love her (for wisdom is represented as a woman in this chapter, but don’t get too excited, so were deception and fornication in the last chapter). What does it mean to love wisdom? What does it mean to love your spouse? Your child? You care deeply for them. You spend time with them. You prioritize them over other things. You sacrifice for them. I think this is also what it means to love wisdom. And with your family, while it is not always easy, it pretty much always feels worth it. Same goes here too. What does prioritizing wisdom look like in my life? When faced with a situation, be it good or bad, or maybe neither, just a choice I have to make, I go to God first. I praise Him. I confess to Him. I cry to Him. And in my daily life, whenever reasonably possible, I do my Bible study first thing each day. If I don’t, I feel it. Nothing feels right with my day. My brain is more scattered. I lose track of time and priorities. It’s just not fun. Today, for example, I was blessed with the opportunity to sleep a little extra, till about 8 am. It took me a while to get going, because I wasn’t feeling 100%, and I needed to wash my hair, which takes extra work and energy and I don’t do every day. I had planned a special brunch for my son and husband because it is my son’s last day officially waking up here as his home – he is supposed to get the keys to his new house today and begin moving in. By the time we finished eating, I had a raging migraine and it was almost noon. Where did my day go?!?!? On other days recently, I have gotten up and done my Bible study even before fixing my breakfast (though I had a cup of coffee). On those days, I’m frequently fed, dressed, and working on the day’s tasks by 10, including having finished my Bible study. So, does my Bible study take time? Yes, sort of. I frequently spend multiple hours working on it each day, but in the long run I end up with more time, not less. Something about aligning my mind with Jesus, with gleaning His wisdom, with seeking Him first, sets me up for success and makes everything else work better. I love the wisdom that I gather from being in God’s Word on a daily basis. I need it in my life. And wisdom loves me back, giving me all that I gave to her and then some.

 This verse, and others in the Bible like it including James 1:5, remind us that God isn’t going to leave us hanging when we ask Him for guidance - those who seek wisdom will find her. Now, that doesn’t mean He’s going to give us the exact details of His full, master plan for our lives, or even this situation. What it does mean is that He will be with us and direct us. I love how Isaiah puts it in chapter 30 verse 21, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” The insight given here is not a public, general sense of advice, like something we’d read clearly in a Bible verse, but a personal, private direction of the Holy Spirit, something specific to our situation. When we are trying to make a decision, or maybe just going about our daily lives, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom will whisper to our hearts and direct our paths. This is a true case of needing discernment though, as our own thoughts and desires can lead us astray when we are seeking God’s direction. For me, hearing from God in this way comes with a sense of peace and often is accompanied by a truth from His Word that confirms the direction is from Him. Kind of an, “Of course you should do this, you know that in my Word it says so.” While God’s Word doesn’t say, “You should text Emily this morning” it might say something about loving our neighbor or caring for our brother and sister in Christ.

 Furthermore, as we prioritize God's wisdom in our lives, seeking after her and spending time learning from the Holy Spirit, the more natural this interaction will become. When I first began my walk with the Holy Spirit, seeking His guidance and learning at the feet of Jesus, I had a hard time discern when He spoke to me or what He was saying. I would get all wrapped up in decisions to a ridiculous degree. I remember a particular phone call (decades ago) I had with a friend who was about to start a Bible study class where I was struggling with deciding whether or not God wanted me to sign up for it. In hindsight I think I can hear a little frustration and confusion in his voice because he couldn't get where I was coming from. I was just learning that I should seek God for His will and that not all good things were God's best for me. This turned into a catch-22 spiral for me where I got stuck in indecision. Thankfully, 26 years of experience has created a clearer pathway of communication where I can hear from God, and know it's Him, much more easily.

Here’s the Thing: Love wisdom and she will love you. Seek after her and you will find her. There are lots of places in the Bible where it talks about God the same way, and I believe the same things could be said of Him (take Matthew 7:7-8 for example). Make God’s wisdom a priority in your life, seeking after it first, above other distractions or priorities, and it will be worth it!

Isaiah 30:21 inspired my image for today’s post, a collaboration of Gemini and ChatGpt as neither of them seemed to be able to do it all, although Gemini’s first attempt was pretty cool so I’ll add that in at the end too 😉. You'll notice I used a female image of wisdom in these. That was intentional as Proverbs portrays wisdom as a woman and I wanted to as well.