Wisdom – God backs up his word on that, too!

Before I get back to our text in Romans, I wish to continue one more day on how God directs his children when they are looking to him for his leading.  Since James tells us we can ask God for wisdom and he will give it to us … how do we receive it?  Well, first—what is wisdom, anyway?

Wisdom may be broken down into six areas:   understanding, discretion, prudence, discernment, knowledge, and action.    I believe it is critical to comprehend these, and to desire them enough that we ask God for them daily.  Ask God for wisdom in the morning, as you start your day.

James 1, verses 5 through 8:  If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

--note to self: I ask God for wisdom, knowing what it entails, and God gives it to me generously; I must  have the faith that he will indeed supply it.

Now, allow me to marry this discussion with that of the last few days—hearing from God.  Will God show us or speak to us when we ask for on-the-spot wisdom?  Yes.  But sometimes, we may have to wait on it. 

Two weekends ago, I spoke at a women’s retreat out in Murrieta Hot Springs,  (I am considering a new reality show on the inside vibe and maneuverings of women’s retreats—what do you think?  Trust me—you would find it fascinating!), and a serious situation came up in which we needed to hear from God.  It was late on Saturday night, right after the evening session—in which God had moved powerfully.  I closed my eyes about 1 a.m., thankful for what God had done in this amazing group of women, but also troubled that I thought one particular woman was going home unchanged.  What do I mean by that?  She had her guard up, and the Holy Spirit had not penetrated her ‘force-field’. 

Who was she? Well, she was a homegirl from Compton, (a tough inner-city suburb of Los Angeles), who had grown up in Long Beach—yeah, that’s right—Long Beach.  I am convinced that the main reason she was able to ‘receive’ from me in my teaching sessions was that my knowledge of the street gave us a bond.  See, even though I looked like a prissy, Orange County blonde pastorwoman, I could speak her language—I understood the Crips, the street jargon, and how much more liberated people of color are in their worship . . . Despite these things, I was troubled that she seemed to be going home without a personal touch from God.

Hmmm . . . I was awakened by pounding on the door at 4 a.m.--two women, one crying loudly, had come to get me because there had been an accident.  My homegirl’s younger brother had been killed in a motorcycle accident, and she had collapsed, totally overcome by her grief.  I put on my coat, and ran with the women to her room, and just rocked her and held her while she wept … it was all so wrong … yes, it wasn’t supposed to go like that, but it had. 

Now, here was the question—did we put her in a car and drive her back to a family who was hostile about the things of God?  Could we risk her sobriety, her faith, her emotional well-being to them?  I stepped across the room, and prayed with another to ask God for wisdom—‘O God, show us what to do!  What is the thing that is right for our homegirl?’  We needed discernment.  And then we waited for his answer—it came in the form of a phone call, and told us all we needed to know—we were to hang on to homegirl, listen to her, love her, pray for her, stay at her elbow, and then build a support system that she could have when she returned home.

Two things I saw clearly: 1) God answered my prayer for wisdom/discernment. 2) God always gets his man—or in this case, his homegirl.  Yeah, God supplies wisdom when we look for it, and he also smothers his children in grace.

Christine

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