All of us need God’s wisdom, even if we don’t always acknowledge that we do.
How many times in your life have you said, “I just wish someone would tell me what to do?” Life can get very distressing. We truly do need God’s wisdom.
Here is the good news.
God has all wisdom, and He is ready to share it with us.
Wisdom is one of the things we lack that we should pray for. God wants us to have wisdom. He offers it to us abundantly and freely.
James exhorted believers to ask God for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).
Notice the emphasis in this verse. We are to simply ask. God gives generously. He does not disapproval when we ask. He wants us to have His wisdom.
How did James know of God’s desire to give generously and without saying, “I told you so?” Wasn’t it because He had seen the Lord Jesus telling His followers to ask, seek, and knock? Wasn’t it because by experience he knew of God’s desire to give abundantly?
Throughout the Old Testament God had promised help and blessing to those who trusted in Him. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Isaiah spoke prominently about the direction of God for those who seek His leadership. “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).
What made the heroes of the Old Testament so effective? Wasn’t it because they trusted God and sought His wisdom and leadership in all things? Like so many of us, their failures came because they walked in their own ways rather than seeking God and His wisdom.
A few years ago, I made a commitment to pray about everything. That commitment has been so difficult for me to keep. Instead of seeking God’s wisdom, I find myself seeking to follow my own ways and my own ideas.
I need God’s wisdom, and I need to ask God.
Acknowledge God so that He can direct your paths.