True Wisdom

 We seem to be adept at attempting to figure things out in our own way....ahhhh, we think we are, anyway.

When we have a problem, we can think of hundreds of ways to solve it, when actually none of them would be successful and many of them could actually make the problem WORSE!

True wisdom only come from God. The True Wisdom of God is given to us through His counsel. That is by His Word and His Spirit. Somehow, as we seek Him for Wisdom, the Holy Spirit enlightens His counsel, His Word, to us and we have peace and assurance that we have the advice we needed. It may not make sense, it may even seem ridiculous, but God is the All-Wise one. He sees what we cannot see and He knows the best way to go. He has His eyes on us.

We are taught in Proverbs 3:5-7

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.

Those words from God are the groundwork for moving forward successfully in this life. How often do we go about year after year trying our own ideas and being frustrated, never finding the success we desire, struggling to find peace? We chase after worldly counsel, self help ideas, this program and that program, yet never arrive at our desired goal. 

Finally we come to our end of striving and we say, "God, I don't know what to do! Please help me!" Now, after all of our efforts, we have finally come to our end and have arrived at God's prescribed starting line. We have laid down our own works and we have come to the place where we are willing to yield to God and trust Him. We now begin to seek after, to pursue to know God's advice. We are no longer pursuing after our own wisdom or the wisdom of this world. Now we have stepped onto the path of true wisdom.

Listen again to the path of God to attain His Wisdom...

#1 Trust the Lord with all of your heart.

      Trusting the Lord means to put your confidence in Him and Him alone. In my imagination I see my grandson standing, well rather crouching, on the edge of the swimming pool at his swimming lesson. His instructor is encouraging him, saying,  "Jump! It's okay! I will catch you. Jump! I promise it will be okay! I promise I WILL catch you! JUMP!" 

      Finally, after much fear and trepidation, bending his knees and straightening them out again, stepping back, then stepping forward again......finally he decides to jump and, of course, his instructor catches him. All is well and his fears subside. The next jump is not as scary, his confidence increases as he continues learning and growing.

      We are much like my grandson in everyday life concerning God. We are crouching at the edge of our problem and God says, "Trust me! I will catch you. I will guide you!"

      We must come to the place in the unknowns of our life to Trust Him and JUMP! Releasing our control is a scary thing to do, but when we are confident of whose arms we are jumping into, our fears subside. We choose to Trust Him and let go of our ineffective, unsuccessful control.

#2 Do not lean on your own understanding.

      In the process of releasing our control to dare to jump into the place of Trusting God we are simultaneously letting go of our own understanding. I have tried and tried and failed to deal with my issues by following my own ineffective ways of thinking and behaving, so now, as I Jump into Trusting, Faith, in God, I am letting go of what I have been leaning on, depending on, trusting in and release all of my understanding into His care for me. I have now chosen a willingness to let go of my ways and yield to His way of thinking and responding

#3. Seek His will in all I do.

     Now, instead of pursuing all of the ways that I previously pursued in attempt to solve my issues, I pursue to know and understand God's ways of thinking, understanding and consequently responding or behaving

     I have taken the first steps already. I have dared to Trust God and Jump into His care while I have  released my ways of looking at things and attempting to deal with it all on my own. I am now ready to be taught the wise ways of God. I am finally willing and desirous of seeking (putting forth my effort into finding out God's ways of wisdom).

     We have made the error of thinking that in amongst all of our self striving, unsuccessful methods of dealing with life, that God would, should and will just step in and overtake our own will and works and just simply fix things for us, in spite of us. 

     However, that is not God's mode of operation. He tells us the Just (those who have been made righteous in His eyes) will live by faith.  

Hebrews 10:37;Galatians 3:11; 2 Corinthians 5:7.

     So, until we release ourselves and our efforts  and come into the place that we are willing to  let go of our faith in all the other ways that haven't worked (Hmmmn, would they be our idols, our other god's????? Yikes!!!!!) and put our faith (trust) in Him, we are not yet ready to receive His help. When we yield to Trusting Him with all of our heart and let go of our efforts, we finally welcome Him to rescue us.

     I have heard that when someone is drowning, the rescuer needs to wait until the drowning person stops flailing and fighting before he can attempt the rescue. Otherwise, the struggling of the drowning person can bring both of them down. Perhaps we need to stop fighting against Him so He can be free to rescue us

    How do we SEEK His will, then?

          A. Realize this: Isaiah 55:8-9 

         For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts

         We must believe that God's thoughts and His Ways are Higher than our thoughts and our ways. His Ways are the Right Ways. His Ways are the Wise Ways. His Ways are the Tested Ways. His Ways are the Proven Ways. His Ways are the HIGH WAYS!!!!

Some read that and have a passive/defeatist response and say, "See, God's ways are so much higher than my ways, so you know I'll never be able to understand them." Wrong Response!!!!!

God says,

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

He wants to Teach us His Ways!!!! He wants us to Know the High Ways!

Hosea 14:9

Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. 

How can we, the righteous people of God, walk in the true and right paths of God if we do not first know what those true and right ways are????

Jeremiah 29:13

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

That is a promise of God!!!!

Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Do you truly Love God? If so, here is your counsel and another promise!!!

Proverbs 2:1-11

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.

For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

That is the wisdom of God. What a treasury!

If you want God's Wisdom. He wants you to have it. Pursue Him, pursue His Word, Cry out to Him for help, for His understanding as you pursue Him/His Word. The Spirit of God will enlighten your understanding and you will know what God has to say to you. Search as for a treasure. God's Word is truly a treasure to us. 

Colossians 1:10-11

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

#4. Have confidence......

When you seek His will regarding every aspect of your life that He Will show you which path to take. So, JUMP!!!! He will catch you. 

#5. Again - Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.R

Reallyit is Just Not Worth It to live by your own ways and your own thoughts and understanding. His Ways truly are the High Ways. We will be much better off to pursue to know His Thoughts and His Ways and walk in them!!!