Hello! And welcome to the 10th day of 2012 with me, Ems Hancock.
Join me as we play a new game of “How much closer can we get to God this year?’

It’s going to be fun. YIPPEE!
Item one on our agenda:

1. What adjectives do people use about you… and are they true?

Pause to cough.

Another pause… for impact.

It does not happen often but occasionally someone will call me wise. (I KNOW, what you are thinking…me?!!) You might not think that’s as complimentary as “Your legs look great in those jeans.” But not so for me. Mmmm. Wise is great. It’s not about bIg beards or weighty books. Or socks with sandals… Praise be! Wisdom, for me is about closeness to God. And that is like gold to me.

Wisdom is something I seek, but it is often elusive and short-lived in my nineteen-to-the-dozen existence. I can be wise and ‘all-knowing’ one minute and then totally fall flat and fail the next. Its amazing that common knowledge is not common at all… and, that conventional wisdom is not what it is cracked up to be…

I read a wonderful passage on wisdom this morning in Job 28 and it got me thinking.
I think there is a right way gain wisdom. There is also a wrong way.
What do I mean?
Well, if I am honest, much of my ‘wisdom’ or experience comes from my previous sinfulness and mistakes. I cannot claim it as “pure” wisdom”¦ it is simply the result of God’s grace through tough times, unfortunate decisions or difficult circumstances. THIS IS THE WRONG WAY. Or at least, not the best way.

A person who becomes wise by blundering through life and learning from it (a.k.a the artist formally known as ME) is, I think, much farther behind than the person who seeks out the right kind of wisdom from the start.

Job 28:23 says of wisdom:
“God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells”¦”

Did anyone else spot the BIG CLUE there? Read that again.
“God understands the way to it and He ALONE knows where it dwells”¦”

This is both beautiful and sobering. There are many, many times when we seek wisdom from other places. We have a ‘try it out’ philosophy rather than it ‘pray it through’ one. (Or maybe that’s just me!)

If God alone knows, then why do we ask our husbands, or our teams or our friends first? Advice is good but it should always come AFTER seeking the face and wisdom of God.

And say so all of us.

Those of us who are wise, that is.