WISDOM - AVAILABLE FOR YOU
28th Jun 2023
When Solomon was appointed King, he was very conscious of the enormity of the task ahead. He saw his own limitations and lack of experience and cried out to God for help. 1 Kings 3 tells how he asked for a wise and discerning heart.
1 Kings 4:29 describes what God gave him - “the deepest of understanding and the largest of hearts. There was nothing beyond him, nothing he couldn’t handle. Solomon’s wisdom outclassed the vaunted wisdom of wise men of the East, outshone the famous wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone…” (from The Message)
Luke 11:31 describes Jesus as ‘greater than Solomon’. Luke 2:40 tells us that Jesus, ‘grew and became strong: he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.’ Reading through the Gospels, we see Jesus applying wisdom and grace with all sorts of people and circumstances, and the same wisdom is available to you and me.
James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” I am constantly asking for wisdom, and like Solomon expect deep understanding and a large heart.
The resurrected Jesus lives, by His Spirit in those who have received Him into their lives. We have been given the ability to hear His voice and let Him lead us. We have One greater than Solomon living within us, and we can at all times ask Him questions and receive His wisdom. However, there is always a choice, ‘Do I seek the supernatural wisdom that needs to be received and acted upon by faith, or do I trust in my own wisdom?’
A friend of ours was in a University Physics Lecture and finding difficulty understanding a specific concept, so he turned to the wisdom of God and asked for understanding. He received clarity and wanted to check if he was right, so submitted to the lecturer what he had heard, who confirmed that it was exactly right. So after this he made his notes in two colours - ‘red’ for God’s wisdom. and ‘blue’ for the lecturer; and over and over God gave wonderful clarity.
One time I was struggling to clean the wall of a bedroom our grandchildren had used. It had several ball point and felt tip scribbles, and my scrubbing was removing the paint. Then I turned to God’s Spirit for wisdom and felt Him tell me to use methylated spirits. I did, and the job was easy and quick. When cooking, I often ask for wisdom and get it! Solomon had wisdom in so many areas of life - ‘nothing was beyond him’.
So, let’s lean on Jesus in every area of our life, and rely on His help as our first resource.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
