However, if we ignore His counsel, we’ll undoubtedly make some decisions we’ll later regret. What too many people forget is that choices have consequences. Our culture tells us to live for today without considering the outcome of our decisions. That’s why people buy homes they can’t afford or accumulate credit card debt they can’t pay. But from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden, God has clearly taught that consequences lead to foolish, self-willed decisions.
First Corinthians 3:18-20 distinguishes between two different kinds of wisdom—God’s and the world’s. The residents of Corinth valued wisdom, but the Lord describes their wisdom—the wisdom of the world—as foolishness. He sees right through their human reasoning and knows how useless it really is.
Worldly wisdom relies on man’s perspective. However, even the most brilliant people have limited knowledge. In fact, their intelligence is often the barrier between them and the Lord. James uses three adjectives to describe the world’s wisdom: “earthly, natural, [and] demonic” (James 3:15). First of all, worldly wisdom is earthly, which means it’s limited to human senses and reasoning. Second, James says it’s natural. In the Bible, this term is often used to refer to the sensual part of man ruled by his sin nature. And third, the root of all worldly wisdom is demonic. Satan is constantly trying to deceive mankind into believing they don’t need the Lord.
Since His knowledge is infinite, nothing surprises Him.
True wisdom is seeing life from God’s viewpoint and responding according to His instructions (Ps. 111:10). Since the only sure place to find His perspective and guidance is in His Word, we must make Scripture a daily priority in our lives. To ignore it is to automatically choose a foolish lifestyle. We should never base our decisions on what everyone else is doing or what they think. Instead, we need to find out what God says about the issue.
The Lord’s wisdom is vast enough to handle every human concern. He knows each of us perfectly and has a complete understanding of our every need (Ps. 139:1-6). Since His knowledge is infinite, nothing surprises Him. Although our world is constantly changing, God has never had to revise His Word because He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Heb. 13:8). No matter how insurmountable our problems may seem, He has unlimited power to handle them. With such a wealth of wisdom available to us, why in the world would we ever choose to rely on our own reasoning, feelings, or desires?
If we listen and obey Him, He will faithfully lead us one step at a time
God wants to share His wisdom with His children (Prov. 2:6-7). He knows we need His help to live wisely. If we listen and obey Him, He will faithfully lead us one step at a time. However, when we plow ahead without consulting Him, we’ll take wrong turns and could get into trouble. I remember when my family first moved to Atlanta and we were looking for a house. After a long search, we found one that was fairly acceptable. Instead of waiting until I heard from the Lord, I went ahead and signed the contract. A rainstorm rolled into town the following night, and a foot of water accumulated in the basement of that house. Even though I had made an unwise decision, God graciously rescued me; the flooding invalidated the contract. Later that week, He guided us to just the right house.
When the Lord’s directions don’t make sense to us, we’ll never go wrong by believing and obeying Him. Just remember that the totality of human understanding and knowledge is like a tiny grain of sand compared to a beach full of God’s wisdom. We need not be anxious or fearful about what could happen. We can sleep soundly each night knowing that the Lord holds the future in His hands and is sovereign over all the events of life.
By Charles F. Stanley
Post a Comment