Wisdom is the Answer

Based on today's sermon. 1 Kings 3:7
When King Solomon had a dream where God asked him what he wanted, Solomon's answer was wisdom. Most of us would be asking for riches or other things, even health and a long life. By answering God with wisdom, Solomon actually covered all bases. What a great answer. I never would have thought of that.
Knowledge without wisdom is dangerous. Having a lot of knowledge gives pride. Wisdom allows one to use the knowledge with the understanding that one is not at the center of the situation. Many have a great knowledge of the Bible and can repeat verse after verse and yet are without the wisdom to understand how/when to apply it. This is so often missing because the person has not allowed God to build the relationship so the Spirit is allowed to direct the person on when/how to apply scriptures. Faith is often missing with those who have a "head' knowledge as opposed to a heart understanding of God. The more one uses knowledge and reason, the more difficult it is to know God's heart and will. It takes practice through a myriad of life situations to learn to have faith and lean on God. Knowledge of Him personally, trumps knowledge of the Bible alone. (This is totally my opinion and experience.)
Solomon's father David was a man after God's heart, yet God did not allow David to build the temple. That was left for Solomon to do. David had the blood of many men on his hands as well as having had an affair and arranging for the death of the woman's husband. Solomon was the resultant child of that affair. Did God punish Solomon? No, He had Solomon build His temple. Was Solomon perfect? No! He wasn't. Yet God still used him.
This gives us all hope. Whatever our background, whatever we have done, God sees us differently than we see ourselves. He sees who we can be and all we have to do is turn to Him. The thief on the cross near Jesus, affirmed who Jesus was and asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus told him he would be with Him that day. No baptism, no religious to-do list. Just an acknowledgement and belief.
Things we do without God often negatively affects others. That is a great reason to try to stay in God's will. If we decide we know God's will, we can often be wrong because the decision is based on what we think we know. Does it (the object/direction of our decision) require faith to happen, because we cannot see how it can happen otherwise? That is more likely to be in God's will. He loves to surprise us when we see how he made it all come together and know that whatever it was is only a small part of what He is doing. He is the master weaver of lives and situations. Timing and faith are everything.
Let God show you how involved in your life he is and wants to be more so. You don't have to be perfect, just willing to try. Ask Him for wisdom and guidance. You can find yourself blessed beyond belief.

May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving