By Keiko Chibana-Shinn | Rediscovering Prayer
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him…” 1 Cor. 2:9
Wisdom calls out from the four corners of the earth. From the east to the west and from the north to the south; wisdom stretches out her hands to all who would receive her counsel. For whoever finds wisdom, finds life. Wisdom has the capacity to give our life form, meaning, and depth. In the midst of a sin-scarred world, we battle daily with the unavoidable reality of what suffering produces. But there are two kinds of suffering, one is vacant of the protection the love of God renders through the understanding and knowledge given by His Word and Spirit. The other is the kind of suffering that is life-affirming and secures you with a fortified hope. Wisdom does not keep you from all kinds of suffering, but wisdom can safeguard us from falling into deception, and without fault; will prepare us to suffer well in the midst of hardship.
Holy wisdom is a wisdom that cannot be produced solely by human experience and it’s not refrained to the confines of human intellect. Wisdom that comes from God can’t be acquired by brute strength or by enforcing one’s own opinions. You can’t gain wisdom by morality or by mechanically modifying your behavior. You don’t have to fulfill any prerequisites by way of prestige or by attaining fancy degrees. It does not come because of one’s fame or fortune. Wisdom is free for all who seek her.
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live. Is. 55:1-3
Wisdom is God’s knowledge and understanding applied to every day circumstances. We must first know and continually understand the depth of the love God has for His children. His knowledge and understanding of our lives reaches far deeper, farther, longer, wider than we can ever imagine. Let us pray that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened in order that we may know the type of hope our Father offers. Who better knows the purposes of one’s heart except for the One who created it? When love abounds in your heart, depth of insight and understanding overflows to bring life into every season for every activity, whether in time of birth, time of death, a time to build, time to tear down, a time to cry, time to laugh, a time to contend or a time to receive—in it all, wisdom cultivates a life worth living.
Wisdom implores you not to neglect the condition of your heart. Let us be wise about what is good that we may spare ourselves from unnecessary harm. The state of our hearts determine the course of our lives. The way we think and the way we apply our understanding is the foundation on which we build our present, our future, the quality of our family life, our friendships, our societies, our nations. Wisdom yearns to speak to the heart of the human condition. We are to revere Him, who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all that we would have everything we need for life. Let us acknowledge that His holiness and goodness paves the way for us to succeed in this life. He inspires us to love and to live well and to make decisions that allow us to profit not for the sake of vanity but for the sake of empowering others. Let the love of God reign in your heart so that you may know the voice of Wisdom that calls you out of darkness and into His light.
Pray that you may guard your heart with wisdom, with the same intensity of the value God has for your life. Pray for the Holy Spirit to enter into your prayer time so He may reveal the heart of God that you may come to know the love that endures and stands with you in every season of life. Then you will attest and prove God’s wisdom is good and will nourish you as you are being perfected in it. The love of Christ is what binds us to an unfailing hope. The very words of God are our wisdom. It’s our strength, it the lamp to our feet a light to our way. When the journey of the Word of God intersects with the journey of our life, we gain intimacy with God. Receive His Words of wisdom. He is willing, always willing to respond. His wisdom delivers resolution and arms us with the valor to keep moving forward—trusting and believing that the best is yet to come.
Additional verses: Pro. 8: 1-3; Pro. 8:35; Pro. 8:9-11, Pro. 1:7; Eph. 1:17; Eph. 3:18-19; Ec. 3:1-8; Pro. 8:30; Ro. 16:19; Is. 48:17; 1 Peter 2:9; Pro. 4:23; Ro. 12:2; Ps. 119:105