Mission Wisdom

“I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power.” – Ephesians 1:16-19

Wisdom is something that, on balance, we’d all like to have. Problem is, it involves sacrifice. Sure it’s a great investment in our futures, even in the present – this thing called wisdom. Throughout the Bible, we are constantly challenged to learn God’s wisdom, to live God’s wisdom, and to love God’s wisdom.

The wisdom of God tells us that God will bring about the best possible results, by the best possible means, for the most possible people, for the longest possible time. So whatever your life is like right now, God is wisely and sovereignly ordering your circumstances to do something in you, through you, in your marriage, in your family, in your work, in your witness, and in your worship that could not be accomplished if you were going it alone. If there was a better, faster, more expedient way, God would be using it. The good times and the not-so-good times were orchestrated or allowed by an all-wise, loving Father to bring about the best possible, longest-lasting results for His glory and your good. And that includes the mission God has for your life. 

We need to understand that there is no plan B or plan C, there is only God’s plan A for your life. In 2020 there were a lot of circumstances that that seem to contradict this teaching. We don’t know enough to fathom why pain and suffering and injustice and tragedies happen to us. Like Job, we come to God with our questions. But in the end, God simply points out that in the grand scope of things, we know nothing. It takes time and repeated lessons in humility to bring us to the place where we can rest in His wisdom and trust His plan. But there are a few spiritual booster shots that can help us get there:

A.W. Tozer, in The Knowledge of the Holy, wrote these words about God’s wisdom in our lives: “To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart. There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God… God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.” (A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 63.)

Discussion Questions:

1. How would you define wisdom?
2. What does it take to be a person of wisdom?
3. How did Jesus model the wisdom of God for us?