Navigating the Gray Areas of Faith and LifeSample

Where’s Solomon When You Need Him?

Our final question is, “Holy Spirit, is this wise?” Having wisdom will help us as we navigate the gray areas of Christian living.

Wisdom is the quality of having sound judgment and the ability to think things through clearly, using one’s experience, knowledge, and insight to make good, proper decisions. The Bible has a great deal to say about wisdom, including where the journey to wisdom begins: with fear of the Lord.

This does not mean to be afraid of God; rather, it entails viewing God with the utmost of reverence and respect, being fully aware of the differences between Creator God and us, His creation. Recognizing who God is, and who we are relative to God, is the beginning of all wisdom because until we view ourselves properly, in our divinely-ordered place, we will never have the perspective necessary to obtain wisdom.

Viewing ourselves as God sees us will automatically keep us from the two extremes that seem to plague humanity: arrogance and poor self-esteem. So much of the world—and the church, unfortunately—lives as though God and His will are secondary to our own thoughts, opinions, and desires. We so often live for ourselves, proudly believing we are in control of our own destinies.

On the other hand, scores of our fellow travelers in this world have an incredibly low view of themselves. Self-esteem issues plague society in general and the church in particular. Many Christians unintentionally short circuit God’s plan for their lives simply because they don’t believe they’re capable of the thing to which God has called them. Yet the Bible is full of “failures” who became heroes simply because they trusted that the Lord could work through them as He promised.

Fearing the Lord—giving due respect and attention to His role in the universe compared to ours—brings us to a place of healthy balance. We recognize simultaneously that while we are not gods, but merely clay in God’s hands, neither are we trash! We are not accidents, nor are we worthless. While on our own we can do very little, we can literally do anything to which God has called us!

The believer who single-mindedly seeks the Lord and asks for wisdom with a sincere heart can expect this most gracious gift from God.

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