God of wisdom
Today, I’m honored and excited once more to feature my friend Lori Hatcher, an author, blogger, and speaker. Her latest devotional book, Refresh Your Hope: 60 Devotions For Trusting God With All Your Heart, has just released, and I hope you’ll consider buying it for yourself or someone you love. This, below, is one of the devotionals in Lori’s excellent new book. If you’re interested in her book, you can find it on Christianbook.com ($13.49 with free shipping on orders over $35) and on Amazon (free shipping with Prime or if you order two copies).—Jessica
By Lori Hatcher, guest blogger
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”—James 1:5
I suspect if someone asked, “Who’d like to be mature and complete in your faith,” most of us would wave our hands wildly and yell, “I do! I do!”
But when we discover the route to maturity winds through the wilderness of trial? “Uh, no. Never mind. Maturity’s overrated.”
Trials are especially good at revealing areas of spiritual immaturity and our need for godly wisdom. During my daughter’s turbulent adolescent years, I found myself on my face before the Lord crying out for wisdom almost every day. Challenging patches in my marriage motivate me to seek wise counsel and resources. And when times of conflict threaten our ministry, we pray, fast, and seek God’s will about how to proceed.
Almost forty years into this Christian life of mine, I still need to be reminded that God freely offers me His wisdom.
“If any of you lacks wisdom,” James wrote, “you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (1:5).
It’s no coincidence that James declared God’s glorious, hope-filled promise smack dab in the middle of a life-is-hard-but-God-is-good pep talk to the Jews scattered abroad because of persecution.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2–4).
I tend to look at trials as bad—and they would be—apart from God’s sovereign purposes. From God’s perspective, however, trials enter our lives only with His permission—and only to accomplish His will. Part of His will is that we persevere, mature, and seek His wisdom.
These aspects of trials can bring deep and abiding joy. But first they bring pain, and we don’t get to opt out. “In the world,” Jesus warned, “you will have tribulation” (John 16:33 ESV).
But we do get to choose how we respond to trials. We can seek God’s wisdom, or we can attempt to figure them out ourselves.
Before I had a relationship with Christ, I’d tackle trials with everything I had. It never occurred to me to ask God for insight or direction. Sometimes I fall back into this mindset. I leave God out of the equation until I’m desperate. Only when I’ve exhausted all my wisdom and resources do I cry out to God.
James, the brother of the Lord, suggests another way—a better way. Ask God for wisdom. Then believe what He tells you (James 1:5–6).
Knowing God promises a sure and steady source of wisdom for times of trial gives me the hope I need to persevere.
But what does God’s wisdom look like? And where do we find it?
The first and most obvious source is the Bible. But we can’t just throw open its cover like an emergency tool kit, fumble around until we find something that looks like it might work, and duct tape it to the problem. We gain God’s wisdom through a sincere and diligent search.
Proverbs 2:1–5 describes it this way:
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
A second source of God’s wisdom comes through prayer. I discovered that if I bathe my Bible reading in prayer, God often speaks to me through my reading for the day. He also speaks through sermons and biblical messages, and the voice of His Spirit in my heart. Sometimes I forget to listen and spend all my time talking. “God, you’ve got to fix this. Lord, show me what to do. Father, I’m so confused, frustrated, anxious, upset.” But when I embrace the words of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God,” my heart quiets, and I can hear God speak.
Often God will impart His wisdom through the counsel of others. But we must choose our sources carefully. Rather than blab my problems to everyone who will listen, I’ve learned to seek out those who are grounded in God’s Word, mature in their faith, and wise in their experience. I’ve also learned there’s no shame in seeking help. Proverbs 11:14, written by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, reminds us, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (NKJV).
Everyone, believers and unbelievers, encounter trials. The glorious hope we have as Christians is that God offers us His wisdom freely and without reproach. All we have to do is ask.
Take Heart: God’s supernatural wisdom is only one prayer away.
From the Heart: Forgive me, Father, for being so quick to tackle my problems in my own strength, with my own wisdom, and totally ignoring you. Or waiting until the situation is so desperate I have nowhere else to turn. Thank you for the reminder of James 1:5 and the promise that you’ll give me insight and direction every time I ask. Teach me to come to you first, not last, every time I need wisdom. In Jesus’ name I ask, amen.
This post is an excerpt of Lori Hatcher’s book, Refresh Your Hope, 60 Devotions for Trusting God with All Your Heart, by Our Daily Bread Publishing and is used with permission.
About Lori Hatcher: Lori is an award winning author, women's ministry speaker, blogger, minister's wife, and healthcare professional. She and her pastor husband live delightfully close to their four grandchildren in Lexington, South Carolina. Lori is the former editor of South Carolina's Reach Out, Columbia magazine. A homeschool mom for 17 years and a frequent contributor to Crosswalk.com, her feature articles and devotions have been published by Revive Our Hearts Ministry, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Christian Living in the Mature Years, Upper Room, Today's Christian Living, War Cry, The Mother's Heart, Inspired Women, and Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. Her stories and devotions have appeared in numerous compilations, including Guidepost's All God's Creatures and the popular Moments series. She loves empowering and equipping women through women's ministry events. She believes connecting with God in the craziness of life is vital to women of all ages. Her hobbies include taking long walks in quiet places, reading, writing, traveling to historic (and warm) places, and lunching with friends. You'll find her pondering the marvelous and the mundane on her blog at www.lorihatcher.com.
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