My Grandmother lived to be 91 years old.  She was a simple woman who grew up on a farm and back in that day few women graduated from high school.  She wasn’t educated, but she was wise.  There’s a big difference between education and wisdom.  Anyone can gather knowledge, life experience and information.  But few can apply it in such a way that it makes an impact in life….in their own and for others.  Grandmother was wise.  Even though she passed away a decade ago I still find myself in certain situations asking the question, “What would Grandmother do about this?”  I miss her so, and her beautiful example of humbleness and strength.

What was her secret to becoming wise?  How do I attain that kind of wisdom in my life?  I believe the answer is simple, but requires great discipline.  It does NOT require lots of money for college, courses or seminars (although I think those can be great) or lots of teachers and instruction.  I think the answer lies in the quiet.  Sometimes when I would go to my Grandmother’s house I would walk in (we never knocked, but were always welcome) and “catch her”.  She was sitting in her chair with her big ol’ Bible in her lap reading truth and praying for all of us.  Some of her prayers are still being answered to this day….living on in the heart of God even though she doesn’t walk with us here in body.  I’m trusting God will answer all of them in His time.

Proverbs 1:7 says, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline”.  There’s the “secret”.  Simple.  Revering the Lord is where wisdom comes from.  Time spent with Him (in prayer) and His word.  The Holy Scriptures were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right”.)

So the Scriptures came from God through the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God now works in and through us and ministers to us.  And one way that the Spirit does this is by revealing truth.   John 16:13 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth”  So if knowing and revering God is the beginning of wisdom and submitting to the Spirit of God reveals truth, then why are we so unwise?  In our home life, our finances, our health, in our leadership, in our churches?  It is because we look to the wisdom of man instead of being disciplined enough to fall on our faces before the God who reveals truth and desires for us to have wisdom. 

James 1:5-8 – “⁵ If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”

We cannot find wisdom apart from God, so why do we try?  What would happen if we started depending on God for wisdom and relied on His Holy Spirit to teach us instead of running to the wisdom of man for answers to life’s problems?  How different would our lives look?

I Corinthians 2:13-15: “¹³ When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.^{[f] 14} But people who aren’t spiritual^[g] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. ¹⁵ Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.”

Friends, if you need wisdom, ask God first.  Don’t run to everyone else and all the wisdom of man and the world.  I believe there is wisdom in good counsel, but we must first go to the source of wisdom and find the answers needed for every area of our lives.  Listen to the Spirit of God and follow His lead.

The book of Daniel tells a great story of how Daniel was put in a position that if he could not tell the king what he dreamed and the meaning of the dream he would be killed.  He didn’t call a committee meeting, Google anything or have a conference to come up with an action plan.  Look at what he did…

Daniel 2:17-23 – “¹⁷ Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ¹⁸ He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. ²⁰ He said,