W I S D O M

The journey to truth in a matter is often fraught with traps and mis-steps. We may perceive something as being of a particular hue and on further investigation, discover it is of a different color; or we discover a multi-hued truth, something we had not even considered. We stumble around searching for answers, confused at the complexities and weaving more complexities into our "truth" until we cannot find a definitive answer to our problem.

We're fairly one dimensional in our approach to problem solving. We tend to use logic and experience and facts to build a model which conforms to our conception of a particular truth. It is not uncommon for us to take a position in a matter and then work to prove that position as "the truth" using whatever we can marshal as support for our particular stand. Or if we have not formed an opinion, as we gather facts and read opinions, we begin forming an opinion that generally will mirror closely the opinion someone else has made from some of the same facts that we have absorbed.

This makes finding "the truth" difficult, if not impossible, at times. We become our own jailers. Truth becomes bound up in our own reality and tied to our own visions or to the reality and visions of others. We find ourselves dusting off books and scouring writings, studying the learned treatises and devouring knowledge in a quest to support our vision of "truth" in a matter. And too often, we miss the mark.

Wisdom is a difficult concept to define. From whence cometh wisdom? The Holy Bible ascribes all true wisdom as coming from God. If that be true, then one must ask how this wisdom is transferred from God to mortals. Is there a "magic bullet" called wisdom? Or is wisdom akin to a medal that must be "won" in the skirmishes of life?

I suggest that wisdom is a gift of God, donated by Him to mankind, available for the asking, and transferred to us in a myriad of ways, times and vehicles. I also would suggest that as one grows in wisdom, the wisdom from God, one begins to see his universe in different ways than many others. One who receives wisdom from God learns that wisdom can come from the lips of a child, from the brush of rain across a face or the glow of a painted crescendo of colors in a sunset; or even from an idle thought flitting through the mind like a fly coming through an open window.

God is not limited in his dispensation of wisdom to His people.

But we seek to limit Him. We seek to find wisdom expressed solely in the pages of a book, even a Holy Book, or the learned writings of one we deem as wise, or from the golden tongue of a gifted orator. And we then seek to take their wisdom and use it to build our wise sayings into truths and to elevate our own self into one who is wise.

I have gained some wisdom about getting wisdom. I've learned, for example, that in order to know the truth about a matter, rushing to read another one we deem wise is not always the prudent course. This can cause us to inject error into our thesis or to turn our truth into a lie for we may accept a proposition merely because it comes from one in whom we've placed much trust as having great wisdom. If so, we have no foundation but his for our truth. And, we do not have wisdom in that area. We may have some knowledge. But, all we have is owned by another, not us.

We must beware of adopting the truths of another as our own merely because that individual is learned or deemed wise or is somehow elevated in our esteem to one we can trust.

I contend that in order to have truth, we must learn to earn that truth for ourselves by begging God to give us wisdom in a matter. We must own that truth. That truth must come from God to us such that we know it came from God. This is not to say we cannot learn from others. But, what comes from another must come first from God and then it must come from God through that person. The mere parroting of God's truth by another person is not necessarily the transference by God of that truth to us. God must reveal truth, must open our minds.

Wisdom comes in learning to hear God speak, whether it be through another person or some other means. We must learn to recognize God's voice. And that is not always easy. That requires spending some time with God but it also requires an asking: "God, open my ears that I may hear you," is the prayer that must be prayed expectantly.

And God will surely answer that prayer.

Moreover, wisdom will begin to come. Discernment will follow. Knowledge will be more than just a collection of facts lying scattered on a library table or tucked into a mind. It will be turned into wisdom. It will be more than a gush of Bible verses marshaled to the support of a causes. Understanding will come. Realization of what God really wants you to comprehend will come. And as you grow wiser, you will come to appreciate the waiting aspect of getting wisdom. You will come to realize that rushing out to read a couple of books on a subject is not equivalent to the getting of wisdom.

You will take knowledge and facts gathered by others and marshal it in a different fashion than before. Instead of using those facts as shields and lances against the arguments of others, you will take those same facts and knowledge and use it to formulate your own argument, your own understanding and in your own words and in wisdom you have been given by God, make your case. You will argue from a position of wisdom, not a position of knowledge. And you will not feel compelled to win an argument or defend a position. It will be sufficient for you to stand wisely and proclaim what you know is truth. There is no ego involved. There is only a desire that the truth be proclaimed for those to hear who are wise.

You finally understand that not everyone can receive the truth you proclaimed.