Against the Flow: Holiness in a Hostile WorldSample

Day 4: Divine Wisdom in God’s Presence

In today’s digital world, artificial intelligence (AI) models like ChatGPT are revolutionizing the way we learn and work. The knowledge and information we seek to live a better life seem to just be a click away. Yet with every new technological advancement, the world gets more complex and confusing. Instead of our lives getting simpler, we face new questions and obstacles. Where can we find not just knowledge, but wisdom to live in a complex world?

In today’s passage, Daniel faces a life-threatening situation which leads him and his friends to seek God in prayer. God answered Daniel’s prayer by revealing the answer to him in the middle of the night. Instead of rushing to Arioch with the answer for fear of his life, Daniel pauses to worship. In his beautiful prayer, Daniel acknowledges God as the one with ultimate wisdom and power (v20). He praises God and acknowledges His control over all things (v21).

Before giving Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream, Daniel intentionally gave credit to God. The answer to his perplexing dream was not found through human advisors, but the answer came directly from a divine source - the God in heaven that Daniel worships (v28). In contrast to the Babylonian astrologers, Daniel’s wisdom did not come from books on dream interpretation. Instead, it came divinely from a conversation with God Himself.

We commonly think that acquiring the latest knowledge, relevant skill sets and advanced educational qualifications are the tickets to success in this world. But contrary to popular belief, true wisdom is not based on human effort and is not a concept to be learned. Instead, biblical wisdom is rooted in our relationship with Christ and is gained through conversing and relating with Him. The divine origin of wisdom means that at its foundation, it is a relationship with God to be enjoyed.

Finally, the beauty of God is that He is both wise and powerful. Consider if God was wise but weak, or if He was powerful but not wise. In navigating tricky and challenging situations in life, we take comfort that we have access to God who has all knowledge, wisdom and perspective. Not only that, He alone knows what is good and right and is able to work things out for our good. As we relate to God, may we not pursue Him only for functional answers, but know that as we draw close to Him, we gain godly wisdom and perspective for our lives.

Prayer points:

• What do you usually do when you need wisdom? Pray and ask the Lord to help you seek Him first and turn to Him in every situation, instead of relying on others or even yourself.
• Is there a situation in your life that you require God’s wisdom for? Spend time in communion with God, to seek His face. Trust that as you commune with Him, He will give you divine wisdom.