Understanding & Growing in Wisdom
What鈥檚 the next wise decision?
That鈥檚 a question that can help you navigate through any situation in life. Family troubles? Vocational discernment? Financial pressure? Health challenges? Do the wise thing, and you鈥檒l be glad you did. That鈥檚 why Andy Stanley, a pastor who leads an Atlanta-based church network, called it 鈥渢he best question ever.鈥
Don鈥檛 Get Hung Up on a Definition
The Bible never actually defines 鈥渨isdom鈥 for us. We鈥檙e told to treasure wisdom, to seek wisdom, to respect those who have wisdom, to expect wisdom to be found in right relationship to the Lord . . . but 鈥渨isdom鈥 isn鈥檛 given the Merriam-Webster treatment.
Wisdom can look like 鈥渒nowing the right thing to do鈥 in some circumstances, but it鈥檚 more than the possession of data. Wisdom can look like 鈥渟eeing the consequences of a decision鈥 in other circumstances, but it鈥檚 more than discernment.
Wisdom knows everything about us and sees the brokenness in and around us. Wisdom comes searching for us when we鈥檙e lost. Wisdom comes looking for us in the places no one else would think to look, yet we easily overlook wisdom. Wisdom invites us into a way of life. Wisdom links us together with the community of the formerly-and-sometimes-still-a-little foolish, who are on their way to becoming wise. Wisdom sends us together into the world with a message of hope, life, and justice that shines like the sun.
How do I know if it was a wise decision?
My family and I recently moved back to my hometown. I had to quit a good job in order to make the move. I broke my life鈥檚 script. The next steps feel murky. I love it. I hate it.
Years from now, I鈥檒l be able to look back and know whether the decision ended up being a wise one or not. We find it easy to evaluate decisions in hindsight, and this, perhaps, is a clue that can give us foresight.
When I stood on the edge of making this big life decision, I saw so many ways that the decision to move could be a blessing to my family. I saw opportunities to grow and steward my gifts. That doesn鈥檛 guarantee that the decision was wise. But it鈥檚 a clue.
What would future you say about what you鈥檙e about to do?
Grace for Fools
What happens when we make foolish decisions? Jesus offers us his grace. No mistake can take you from the God who made you, loves you, and redeems you. Our fear of making a mistake doesn鈥檛 make us wise. Wisdom mitigates risk but doesn鈥檛 run from it.
I鈥檝e made foolish decisions in my life, and perhaps you have as well. I鈥檝e learned from some of them and seen God鈥檚 grace. My sensitivity to God鈥檚 voice and his Spirit鈥檚 leading has grown. I鈥檝e gotten to know myself better: my strengths and temptations.
Our foolish decisions can make us feel shame, which is the enemy of learning. When God鈥檚 grace lifts us out of our shame, we receive fresh capabilities to learn from our mistakes.
You鈥檝e been with you as long as you have been a thing. You could even say that you were into you before you were big. This positions you for great insight. Even more than that, God has deeper and richer knowledge of you than even you do. Where your perspective is distorted by pain and sin, God sees with perfect and complete love. And this same God wants to guide you.
What would past you say about what you鈥檙e about to do?
Four God-Given Guardrails to Help You Make a Wise Decision
1. God鈥檚 Spirit
Jesus taught that 鈥渕y sheep hear my voice鈥 (John 10:27). I believe that everyone who has a relationship with Jesus can hear from him as we navigate through life. In fact, James Choung, 果冻视频鈥檚 Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, says that this is a key skill for all who want to be followers of Jesus: hearing and obeying God. If we ask God for guidance, he鈥檒l give it. Like a parent with a good gift to give to a child, God stands eager to give wisdom to us.
Have you prayed to ask God for guidance in this situation?
2. God鈥檚 Word
God鈥檚 Spirit will never contradict God鈥檚 Word. In fact, God鈥檚 Spirit has worked through the writers of Scripture to communicate reams and reams of truth to us. The vast majority of our questions about how to navigate life, relationships, vocation, and spirituality have ready insights available to us in the Bible.
Don鈥檛 scurry to the Bible as if it鈥檚 an answer book for your questions though. God uses the Scriptures to form and shape us into the sort of people who can make and sustain wise decisions. A garden hose can鈥檛 carve a canyon, but a river can. Spend regular time reading, studying, and listening to God鈥檚 Word, and you鈥檒l have a stronger sense of what God wants you to do; you鈥檒l recognize wisdom when you see it.
Have you spent time listening to God speak through Scripture before making this decision?
3. God鈥檚 People
God gives us friends, family, mentors, neighbors, and even random strangers to guide us along the paths of wisdom (and to help us return when we鈥檝e wandered into foolishness). While you were praying, reading, and thinking, God鈥檚 Spirit has also been at work in the people around you to bless you. They know stuff you don鈥檛 know. They鈥檝e had experiences you can鈥檛 imagine. They might be able to help you financially, practically, logistically, or strategically.
The wise person seeks counsel. All advice isn鈥檛 equal, but if you have enough wisdom to seek wisdom, you鈥檒l quickly develop discernment about who to talk to. Getting input doesn鈥檛 mean that you abdicate responsibility, but it will help you make wiser decisions.
Who can you talk to about this decision?
4. God鈥檚 World
At times, you鈥檒l feel like you have a green light from the Lord and Scripture, your community endorses your decision, and nothing happens. Or resistance happens. Or money doesn鈥檛 happen. What do we do then?
I believe that God remains active and engaged in the world even when it resists him. Time and time again in Scripture, I read stories of people doing exactly what God wants them to do but not seeing the outcomes they want to see. Men and women cry out to God in their frustration and their suffering. And they, too, are among the wise.
The wise know that even wise decisions don鈥檛 guarantee comfortable outcomes. Our God died on a cross. And though the resurrection loomed on the horizon, our God sweated blood thinking about that cross.
The world remains God鈥檚 world even when it hurts us, even when it wounds us for our wise decisions, even when it kills the God who made it. The day is coming when the trees will clap their hands, and the mountains will skip like lambs, when the stars will bend down to watch as the sons and daughters of God celebrate in wild worship of the wisdom of God, Jesus the Christ, as he welcomes them into his peace.
Will this be worth doing even if it hurts?
