I can think back on so many things in my life that went wrong simply because I wasn't applying wisdom to my life. I don't mean my own wisdom (actually that probably is what I was applying), but I do mean God's wisdom. When we walk in our own wisdom we tend to use things like our flesh, earthly desires and selfishness to rationalize if something is "good" for us. We often don't stop and weigh the consequences of things BEFORE we do them. Instead we do things and then deal with the consequences left behind by our actions. We are left dealing with people we've hurt, problems we've caused, situations we are now in (even if we didn't want to be)...or hardships that we helped bring onto ourself. I believe it's when we stop and consider God's will, God's path for our life, God's principles or how God wants us to demonstrate Him to others....it's when we stop and think about those things first that we make some of our absolute best decisions.
One of the reasons I used to make such poor decisions in my own life is because I wasn't spending any time with God or in His word. So to think I could apply His wisdom into my life was craziness. It would be like never studying French, but thinking I could go in and pass a French test. It's not going to happen! In order to apply something I have to "have it" first. This might sound silly, but you can't apply paint to a wall if you haven't dipped your brush into the paint first. Well, you can't apply Godly wisdom to your life if you yourself aren't dipping into God's word and God's presence.
We know that God wants to give us guidance and wisdom because James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him". So this means if we don't feel like we have Godly wisdom to apply, then we aren't spending enough time asking for it. But I can tell you from my own experience that when you begin to ask for it, expect God to tell you that some boundaries and filters need to be put in your life. The first step of wisdom for me was putting things in place to make sure I never step back into the world that God rescued me from. In fact, wouldn't it be crazy for a ranger who lives next to a cliff to not put up fence to protect his cattle? How many cows would he have to let walk off the edge of the cliff before he said "I should probably put up a boundary there to stop this from happening again"? Same thing goes for our life. We look at God's Word and we find the areas of our life that are open to temptation, or toxic relationships or darkness and we use God's wisdom to prevent ourselves from going there. These are not restrictions to take away our freedom any more than a speed limit sign is a restriction to take away our ability to drive. They are there to make things better and safer for you and everyone around you. God's plan.....God's will...is also there to help make things better and safer for you....and so many people around you. Ephesians 5:15-17 says "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is". And what does "circumspectly" mean? It means "thinking carefully about possible risks before doing or saying something". So tell me God wasn't trying to tell us to slow down and think before we do ANYTHING. He loves us to much not to warn us! And we should show our love back to Him by applying His wisdom and His will to our lives.
God, Thank You so much for the love and care you have for us. Thank You that Your Word guides us, directs us and protects us. Let the first piece of wisdom that we receive through the Holy Spirit be to get into Your Word more! Help us to be able to understand and apply Your wisdom into our lives so that we can make sure we are walking more in Your will with each new day. In Jesus name, Amen
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