Wisdom from above creates a sense of direction and opportunity in our lives. It continually points us to the path that will bring us the greatest results and the deepest sense of fulfillment. Without this godly wisdom, everything in life begins to seem vague and pointless. We may be making progress, but we still don’t know where we’re going.
Inner strength to stay the course of God’s plan for us comes when we receive His wisdom and then apply that wisdom to maintain a clear future goal. The inner strength comes from the Holy Spirit as He supplies all we need to rise above the clamor of the conditions or conflicts we may be facing and to continue our forward progress on the path God has laid out before us.
We can see an example of this in Jesus’ life. When Peter first heard Jesus describe that He would be arrested and killed, Peter declared, “We won’t let that happen to You, Lord!” (see Matthew 16:21-23).
Of course, Peter spoke first and thought later. He certainly spoke out of his deep love for Jesus and his desire to protect Him. Yet Peter’s feelings ran completely opposite to God’s ultimate plan. Jesus was to die for all of mankind. Peter saw only from his own limited point of view and not from God’s perspective at all.
Peter’s words were a temptation to Jesus, so Jesus quickly rebuked Satan. Then Jesus said in response to Peter’s words: “…You stand right in my path when you see things from man’s point of view and not from God’s” (Matthew 16:23 Phillips).
Notice how James describes this godly wisdom: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17,18 NKJV).
Isaiah 33:6 describes God’s wisdom this way: “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure” (NKJV).
There can be a wellspring of wisdom deep within us that brings peace. That is all we need. When we lock in to God’s plan, we will have His wisdom to see all the other paths presented to us from His perspective. For Dennis and I, only one path radiated with His light. The other good possibilities have no attraction. We could see that they were only distractions. We knew that we knew God had given us His wisdom and knowledge about the matter. We were stable and sure-footed on His path for our lives.
Job sums it up this way: “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways” (Job 22:28 NKJV). This is the way God defines true success for us as believers. As we discover and then declare God’s wisdom, we establish His will in us, allowing His light to illumine our path and keep us moving toward His destiny for our lives.
