Saturday 28 May 2022 – Transformed week 3

Those who get wisdom do themselves a favor, and those who love learning will succeed.

The desire to get wisdom seems like it should come naturally to people – after all, who wouldn’t want to become wise and succeed in life, as promised here in this verse?

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it first sounds. The dictionary defines wisdom as “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.” So where do we get this wisdom from? Our parents or teachers? Our culture or social media?

Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.” Looking to God and His Word for wisdom is the starting place.

There have been times in my life where I have been disappointed to find out that the fear of the Lord was just the beginning of wisdom. I wanted it to be the end as well! It was humbling to find out that I wasn’t as wise as what I thought I should be by that stage of my life. Facing my imperfections can be so annoying!

That’s where the love of learning comes in.  Gaining wisdom is a lifetime journey, not a destination. My view of wisdom has matured from thinking that I need to know all the answers. Acknowledging that I don’t have all the answers makes me wiser, not weaker. Humility and wisdom go hand in hand.

I now see wisdom like a balancing act between making life choices based on my understanding of what God wants, and then trusting Him to fill in the gaps where I fall short.  Sometimes I get it wrong, but hopefully learning from my mistakes. In other words, wisdom + faith + God’s grace is a winning combination.

Which brings me back to my original point: the gaining of wisdom does not come easy. There are a lot of bumps along the way, but hang in there – if you love learning, you will succeed.

Written by Shelley Witt