Spiritual Wisdom
Spiritual Wisdom
Do you wish you understood what is happening? Do you want to truly know what you’re dealing with? We are a people who seek wisdom: to know how to handle a situation, a problem, or a person. We don’t automatically understand the circumstances or the consequences. We are sometimes trapped without the clarity or confidence to take action. Life brings moments we’ve never dealt with before, and times when we do not have the power to change anything. We seek wisdom to calm the confusion and panic that is creeping in.
When this happens where do you turn? I would like to suggest that you turn to God. He is the loving and all-powerful one who knows you, what you’re dealing with, and also knows the future. He is wise beyond your understanding and wants to bring hope and peace to your life. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 has much to say about the kind of spiritual wisdom you can rely on. The Apostle Paul is speaking about his own journey and his own quest for wisdom.
1 Corinthians 2:3-5 NKJV “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of man but in the power of God.”
Even the Apostle Paul, with his devotion and education, could not rely on his own understanding, but realized there was a wisdom and a power in the Spirit of God that far surpasses the wisdom of man. God’s wisdom is for those who seek and keep on seeking. He continued, saying:
Verses 6-7 “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age know; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
Spiritual wisdom is only for the spiritually mature. It comes over time spent in the presence of God and in His word. The Bible reveals the character of God, the ways of God, and the power and wisdom of God. They are there, available to us as we grow. In our weakness, we too can rely on our own understanding and the wisdom of this world. If the rulers of the Roman Empire truly had wisdom and understanding of who Jesus was, they would not have crucified Him. Their own quest to maintain power and control led them astray, to oppose the plan and purpose of God. Their earthly wisdom was totally inadequate to deal with the situation.
Verses 13-15,16 “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirt of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Verses 11b-12 “…no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
Jesus did not abandon us to our own devices when He ascended into heaven. He promised to send us a helper, to lead the way. He explained it to the disciples this way:
John 14:25-27 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Paul continues (1 Cor 2) to explain how we can discover the wisdom of God. It is not hidden from us, but hidden for us!
Verses 9-10 “But as it is written:
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”
Seek Godly wisdom, not the foolishness of man’s arrogance. God has wisdom and discernment for you! It is hidden for you in His Spirit. Seek Him while He may be found. He desires to lead and guide you as the Helper. In His presence you will find the fullness of joy.
