Gaining Wisdom

It has been said that "You have to be young and stupid before you can become old and wise."    While I acknowledge the truth in that statement, it's implication that wisdom comes with age is not necessarily true.  There are more than a few in the gray-haired set that are old and still stupid.  Can I get an amen?

Young and stupid can be a gateway to old and wise, if we learn from our mistakes.  If not, we simply keep making the same mistakes, learning nothing more than perhaps to perfect our mistakes.  Haven't you borne witness to folks who step into the same mess over and over again?  Sorry if I stepped on your toes.

The sure way to wisdom is to take your life and experiences to God: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" (Js 1:5).  However, even here, wisdom doesn't necessarily just happen.  He does give wisdom generously but what is required of us to receive?  For instance, a pitcher throws a fast ball right across the strike zone but the batter has no bat and the catcher has no glove?  What then?

To begin with, we must truly believe God will grant us the wisdom we seek: "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord" (Js 1:6-7).  The problem of not truly believing is that you will not be paying attention when God provides, and that distraction, like an ocean wave, will not allow you the focus to receive.

You must also be prepared for the manner in which wisdom is granted, and that, so often, comes in a very stressful and even painful way.   The stress and the pain must be embraced until wisdom's work is done: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (Js 1:2-4).

So, wisdom comes freely from God but is received by us with a price - a price of faithful holding on to God's hand through the challenges and losses of life as we begin to learn what we've done (or others) to bring on calamity, and what God can do in and through us.  Jus' Say'n.