Fear And Wisdom

“These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance.” – Proverbs 1:1-5. 

Wisdom has played an important part in human history. Our ancestors spent years adapting to their ever-changing environment. They experienced hardships and learned to survive. Their knowledge and experiences were passed down to their descendants to give them a greater advantage and increased likelihood of survival. Without wisdom acquired and passed down over the years and centuries, life would be different. 

Even today, we have learned a lot of lessons over our seasons of life. We are wiser than we were decades ago. And that can lead us to choose what we know, can see, and can predict without honestly going for broke and trusting God wholeheartedly. The more successful we become—the more money we have, the more we want to conserve, and the less we want to risk. In most cases, fear is the cause of that. Fear often hides behind wisdom. We don’t want to lose what you’ve already gained so we have allowed the wisdom we have gained over the years to become a substitute for trust. We stop trusting God because “risk” looks unwise.

It is one thing to believe in God, but another thing to trust Him fully. When was the last time you had to trust God for the outcome of something? I mean really trust God? To trust is to believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of something. So, when it comes to trusting God, that means believing in His reliability, His Word, His ability, and His strength. The Bible says that God cannot lie. That He always keeps His promises. That He loves you and has good in store for you. Trusting in Him means believing what He says about Himself, about the world, and about you is true.

Trusting God is more than a feeling; it’s a choice to have faith in what He says even when your wisdom, feelings, or circumstances would have you believe something different. Your wisdom, feelings, and circumstances matter and are very much worth paying attention to. But those things alone are not reliable enough to base your life on. They can and often do change. God, on the other hand, does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and therefore is worthy of your trust.

Trusting God is not about ignoring your wisdom or reality. It is not pretending that everything is OK when it isn’t. Trusting God is living a life of belief in and obedience to God even when conventional wisdom would suggest otherwise. 

My prayer is that we learn to trust God with the future. He has a plan for each of our lives and He will bring good from our choice to trust Him.

Discussion Questions:

1. If you were able to know one thing about the future, what would it be?  
2. What can we do this week to trust and accept God’s plan for the future?