By WALTER ALBRITTON
RELIGION —
A young man, less than half my age, called and said, “I would like to talk with you man to man about a personal problem.” We met and talked for a while. He made me feel my counsel was helpful. I felt confident the young man would make the right decision about the dilemma he was facing. What impressed me most was not that he thought I was wise, but that he was wise enough to seek the advice of his elders.
The biggest fool in town is the person who thinks he is the smartest man in the room. He knows everything and seeks counsel from no one. Such people have the arrogance of the old Radio Shack commercial: “You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers.” Fools have answers for all questions. The longer I live, the more I realize how little I know.
In counseling my young friend, I tried to avoid giving him answers. Instead I encouraged him to seek wisdom from God and ask for His guidance. I could do that because I am convinced that the good Lord is as willing to guide an ordinary person seeking His help as He is the pope. James believed that. He said, “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” (1:5).
There is no one who does not need more wisdom. No matter how much we have, there is room for more. Only a fool thinks he need not ask God daily for more wisdom. Without sufficient godly wisdom, we shall become what James calls a “double-minded” man who is “unstable in all his ways.” To gain wisdom from God, one must believe that God is willing to give it. Either God will guide our lives or He won’t. So, wise is the person, young or old, who chooses by faith to believe that the Lord will guide his life by providing generously the wisdom requested.
During life’s journey most of us face perplexing times when we simply do not know what to do next. It is in those situations, when our decisions will result in ruin or relief, that we desperately need godly wisdom. That’s why Alcoholics Anonymous has been wise to teach struggling people to pray the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.” The meat of that prayer is in the last five words — “wisdom to know the difference.” God alone can reveal what things we need to change — and provide us the strength to make the changes. The Brazilian author Paulo Coelho offers us his wisdom in this clever statement: “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” That, of course, is true, but each of us needs God’s wisdom to know how to get up the eighth time — and what to do after we get up.
The “world” offers its wisdom in many ways. One is the internet, a popular cultural idol worshipped by many. God invites us to seek wisdom from Him so we may become children fit for Kingdom business. There is a plethora of information available but knowledge without God’s wisdom can lead to boredom, misery and even disaster. We shall be wise to humble ourselves and seek God’s wisdom — and the strength to practice it in everyday life.
