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If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God
wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you.
James 1:5 (NLT)

I believe discovering God’s wisdom in our lives is not instantaneous; it is a daily process of being with God, searching Him out, asking Him questions, and receiving His answers. I believe our Father wants us to know that life does not have to be complicated. It can be very simple when we discover that any answer to any question, even the most challenging, can be found on our knees. There is just something about bowing before our Creator that humbles the proudest heart. How can it not please our Father when we bow before Him and acknowledge Who He is, all that He has done and continues to do, and that we need Him…oh how we need Him!

Can you imagine our Father turning His back on us when we are bowed before Him? I cannot! And when we get on our knees before Him, and our Father speaks to us, perhaps something as simple as, “Leave,” what are we to do but obey Him? If we do not, I believe we will then be out from underneath the umbrella of His protection on our lives, experiencing difficulties we never needed to go through if we had only listened and obeyed Him. We don’t know what those might be, but I do know I’d rather not find out.

God’s hand is upon all our lives, it’s our responsibility to feel His gentle nudging. Why we are not usually given specific instructions as to where to go, what to do etc…? Perhaps because God wants us to use the Godly wisdom He has given us, wisdom that comes from spending time with Him--then we do not really need word-for-word, detailed descriptions of what He would have us do--He has placed His wisdom in us to help us make those decisions.

The thing we have to remember is, Godly wisdom is very different than worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom usually says, “Take the safe route”…Godly wisdom says “Follow Me.” In that obedience, we are then allowed the opportunity to watch God work out the many details, and it is a delight!! When we have no clear plan, we become totally reliant on God’s plan and we begin to see the colors of life that get muddied when we think we are the one “creating the masterpiece.”

A life of obedience is a life of a surrendered heart. To state it simply, it is a life of prayer. It is learning about God and His ways in being still with Him--One on one, day in and day out. By letting all of Him fill all of us, so that we cannot help but know what His wisdom would have us do, even when it seems foolish to the world. In that knowing, there is a peace that comes even when there is still no “finished” painting before us. It is realizing the Holy Spirit lives in us, aligning our spirit with His, becoming one in that alignment, then following His guidance, and resting in it. It’s not really that difficult until the last step…“resting in it.”

That is where we get messed up and stop listening, start panicking and making our own plans because God’s ways are taking too long or they don’t seem quite right, or how can this possibly be what God has for us? Well, none of us knows exactly what “God has for us,” but we can know God has us in His loving care and He will not abandon us…not ever! God’s wisdom does not have to be a mystery just because we live in these fleshly bodies.

We are filled with His Spirit, let’s use Him! Then living in the unknown, in the periods of questions without answers, we will have the only answer we really need. When asked, “What are you doing?” We can answer, “We don’t have the full picture yet, but God does, and we can rest in that!”