Reflecting Wisdom

Reflecting Wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

IN WORD In an unwise world, wisdom speaks volumes. Rarely does someone do the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do. Our relativistic culture doesn’t understand why we point to absolutes like we do, but it still takes notice. At some level, probably deep within their hearts, people see wisdom as a sign of the One who is wise.

How do we become wise? We’re born into a confusing world just as surely as anyone else. We have no special insight in our natural intuition or intellect. We all begin at the same starting line: as an unwritten slate bursting into a delivery room and taking in all we can see and hear. So how can we possibly claim any particular advantage over the wisdom of this world?

We have a God who shares His wisdom. He has written His revelation, and it is at our fingertips as often as we are willing to reach for it. He has birthed us with His Spirit, the interpreter of the inner workings of the holy, sacred mind of God. He has placed us into a community of believers, His own body to which He speaks and through which He moves. Yes, by all means, we have an advantage. The mind of Christ is available and accessible.

IN DEED How can you reflect God’s wisdom in this unwise world? Base your life on eternity. Invest your money and your talents in things that are ultimately meaningful. Use your time for everlasting purposes. Leverage your sorrows and your pains as glorious demonstrations of His mercies and His comfort. Invite Him into your circumstances to do His will. Accept His invitation into His global agenda to make His name known and loved. In other words, in all these things, base your life on reality.

That’s what the world needs to see. Reality shows on TV are no reflection of reality. You, however, can be. In a strange, confused world, ask for His wisdom and then show it.

Knowledgeable people are found everywhere, but we are cruelly short of wise people.

—MICHEL QUOIST