Wisdom

One of the books I'm reading right now is Knowing God by J.I. Packer. One of the things he talks about that has really resonated with me is wisdom. He talks about how often as Christians we think "that the gift of wisdom consists in a deppened insight into the providential meaning and purpose of events going on around us, an ability to see why God has done what he has done in a particular case, and what he is going to do next." He counters that by saying "to live wisely, you have to be clear-sighted and realistic-ruthlessly so-in looking at life as it is." He goes on to say that wisdom "is not a sharing in all his [God's] knowledge, but a disposition to confess that he is wise, and to cleave to him and live for him in the light of his Word through thick and thin." He says a lot more about that, but that just really resonated with me.

What was especially cool is that the night before reading that, I wrote in my prayer journal that God would help me in seeing a particular situation as it really is and not as I want it to be. I was talking to a friend tonight and she was expressing how she was trying to understand why God allowed a certain situation to take place. The situation is not a good one for her (in my opinion). I think often we fool ourselves by believing some sign that we think supports our case that what we are pursuing is pleasing to God, when the reality is we are being faced with a temptation to allow our lives to be dictated by circumstances surrounding us.

That may not make sense to anyone but me, but it is challenging me.