Striving for Wisdom
A specific topic has come up in my life a lot over the last month. That would be that suffering leads to growth and growth leads to maturity, which leads to wisdom. It is easy to look at the lives of two individuals, one who has endured many trials and one who has not, and see the differences in maturity. As believers, we also tend to be able to see wisdom in some of our fellow believers and may find that comforting. If one has been in church for a while, it is almost guaranteed that they have heard that all you have to do is ask for wisdom to receive it. It may have even been mentioned in a former post on this site and may be mentioned again in the future.
What has been standing out to me recently is that there are two kinds of wisdom: Godly and worldly. That may sound obvious and it is something I guess I have always known, but I did not recognize until recently that the book of James clearly spells out the differences. Let’s take a look!
“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” -James 3:13-18
As I have been processing the loss of my mom over the last 2 years and 9 months, I have found myself struggling in ways that are new to me, but not new to God (and are definitely addressed in the Bible). One of these struggles has been being jealous of other people. I have not been jealous in the sense of wishing I had more of any thing; not more money or more friends. I have found I struggle with being jealous of the time people my age still get to spend with their moms; the family vacations, the laughs shared, the words of advice and encouragement, the tears, the relationships, weddings, pregnancy announcements, etcetera. The list goes on, but the desire is the same - I have a desire that will never be fulfilled and I am coming to terms with the fact that it is okay. I fully believe in God’s timing and know He knows best and lately I have been learning to trust Him more in that.
With the prayers of peace, strength, and understanding, I also often pray for wisdom. It is my hope this week, after seeing the specific traits of godly wisdom spelled out so clearly, that my enthusiasm will come from praying specifically for the kind of wisdom mentioned in verse 18. I am inviting you to join me in this prayer. Let our joy this week come from the choice of striving to be pure in all ways, peaceable with others when we do not feel like it, gentle even when not treated gently, open to reason instead of insisting on our own ways, full of mercy and good fruits instead of easily slipping into negativity that often comes from loss, and let us be impartial and sincere while we do it. There is joy to be had this week as we continue pressing on and pressing in to the One who holds all wisdom and promises to give it to us as we lean on Him and walk in these hard days of grief and all the hardships that come with it.
