Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
It's one of the biggest "IF's" in the Bible and it makes us wonder why the Lord let it get in there: "IF any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5, NKJV).
Have you ever met anyone who had all the wisdom he or she needs? It seems we all lack it, even the great King Solomon, said to have been the wisest man who ever lived. He so "lacked wisdom" that like a fool he fell into that awful "deep pit" of "the mouth of an immoral woman" whom the Lord never intended him to marry; "he who is abhorred of the Lord will fall there," he himself had said (Prov. 22:14). Those women led him to ruin.
The apostle James encourages you to receive this priceless gift of wisdom:
(1) If you have been delivered from arrogance and you realize your emptiness of wisdom, thank God for this clear evidence that the Lord does not "abhor" you. Remember, He can love you dearly and at the same time "abhor" your spiritual stupidity. A good dose of feeling how much the Lord "abhors" one can be a tremendous blessing.
(2) The call to "any of you" means that the Lord puts all of us, educated and not, on a level in His sight: work yourself almost to death getting a dozen doctoral degrees and you can still remain a fool. If you are someone who has never had the chance to get "higher education" (there are still such people in the world), please don't despair and think of yourself as handicapped. There's a story in our precious book of Ecclesiastes about a "poor ... man" who was nevertheless "wise" who saved a city from almost certain conquest (but nobody ever thought to thank him; yet he "lives" in genuine fame, 9:13-15).
(3) You wisdom-needing soul, be happy: the Lord does not bawl you out and make you feel like two cents because you "lack wisdom." He gives it to you "liberally and without reproach." Oh, I love that! No berating, no torrent of reproach. He respects you as well as loves you! His affection for you is not that of yours for your dog. He honors you! He is constantly trying to build your self-respect.
(4) He is training you to sing a beautiful solo: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit [if He has saved you from fornication or adultery, sing the Hallelujah chorus], out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. And He has put a new song in my mouth" that "many" will rejoice to hear (Psalm 40:1-3).
Be happy! You are "blessed" (Matt. 5:3).
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 22, 2007.
Copyright © 2013 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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