Ballistic Breakthrough | Word of Wisdom

Guest Writer | Deborah Kendrick

The Gift of the Word of Wisdom

Make your ear attentive to wisdom,

Incline your heart to understanding;

For if you cry for discernment,

Lift your voice for understanding;

If you seek her as silver

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will discern the fear of the Lord

And discover the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Prov 2:2-6

My short definition for wisdom is this: Wisdom lets you learn from other people’s mistakes. That is the best short-cut I have found in life . . . so far. Before you think of how “unfair” that sounds, consider this – the Bible is a book that explicitly details the flaws, mistakes, errors in judgement and outright sins of many who are named in it. All of this has been preserved and given for our benefit. This is where we begin to learn from the mistakes of others. When we wash our minds with the Word of God, His wisdom enters our hearts.

So how does this wisdom come to us? Solomon began by asking God. When Solomon prayed that solitary request, God granted his desire. . . .and so much more. Solomon only asked for wisdom; he did not ask for riches, wealth, honor, the life of his enemies, or even long life for himself. God not only granted him wisdom and knowledge, He granted Solomon all that he had not requested.

Wisdom will make us aware of the consequences of our decisions and actions before we make them. As we become more sensitive to the promptings, the warnings, the insights that wisdom gives, we also are responsible for heeding them. As we learn to trust these messages and co-operate, we grow in the depths of wisdom. Most people have certainly experienced something like this: while driving down a road with no traffic, you have a compelling sense to slow down when there was no apparent reason. Just around the next bend a car was disabled and the driver was in a dangerous place. Heeding that prompting saved the other driver and you.

Time in prayer is where wisdom is imparted. Wisdom invites us into a room where we dwell together in a meditative exchange of thoughts and ideas. Wisdom reveals itself in authenticity, originality, knowledge of witty inventions, solutions for unsolvable problems, finding the way when there is no way, replacing despair with hope… reminding us to bring extra oil for our lamps.

To summarize:

1 – Read the books of wisdom in the Bible. Proverbs has 31 chapters, one a day for a month. Read a chapter a day from Proverbs for a period of six months. Dig into Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Wisdom. Also spend time in the parables of Jesus and the Book of James. Slow reading is best - this is not a race to get it finished. We learn to let ourselves be melted by the warmth of wisdom entering our hearts.

2 – Pray for wisdom.

3 – Wisdom is protection. Wisdom will shine a light on the path before us causing us to know the consequences of our actions before we make them. Wisdom will also grow in our hearts the courage to make the best decisions in the moment.

4 – Cooperate with wisdom. Seeking, embracing and receiving wisdom makes life easier. Everyone wants a respite from struggles, strife and hardship. The fruits of wisdom produce this. “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be a peace with him.” Proverbs 16:7

God Bless You!