Reading
“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”
Proverbs 4:7 (NIV)
Reflection
We often assume that wisdom comes naturally with age. In fact, the wisdom literature contained within the Bible draws connections between the two in many places:
“Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? ‘To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.’”
Job 12:12-13 (NIV)
“Grey hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”
Proverbs 16:31 (NRSV)
Time marches on and it has a way of adding up. But the accumulation of years doesn’t automatically equate to wisdom. The wisdom book of Job offers a correction to the assumption that age automatically equals wisdom:
“I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.”
Job 32:7-9 (NRSV)
Time alone is not enough to produce wisdom. You can live for one hundred years, and if you never stop to evaluate your life, all you’ve done is live the same year over and over again.
A wise friend once told me, “Wisdom comes from evaluated experience.”
In order to gain wisdom, we must do something. We don’t gain wisdom sitting around and hoping it lands in our lap. It is through experience that we are formed, both by what happens to us and by what we do with it.
Wisdom doesn’t come naturally; we must pursue it. Proverbs says, “Though it costs you all you have, get understanding.”
We must pause long enough to ask: What did I learn from this experience? What needs to change? Where is God inviting me to do things differently?
The pursuit of wisdom requires sacrifice. In order to gain wisdom, we must have the humility to admit when we are wrong, the courage confront our shortcomings, and the discipline and commitment to choose to do it differently in the future.
Through God’s power and the gift of His wisdom, we can change—even if it costs us everything. We must be willing to receive it and act on it.
But to refuse God’s wisdom has a cost, too: a life marked by repetition instead of transformation.
So, seek God’s wisdom, and then do whatever is needed to live it out.
Prayer
Open your prayer time with this prayer from St. Teresa of Avila and then spend some time in silence waiting to hear from God and receive the wisdom He has for you.
Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
Lord, grant that I may always
allow myself to be guided by You,
always follow Your plans,
and perfectly accomplish Your Holy Will.
Grant that in all things, great and small,
today and all the days of my life,
I may do whatever You require of me.
Help me respond to the slightest prompting of Your Grace,
so that I may be Your trustworthy instrument for Your honor.
May Your Will be done in time and in eternity by me,
in me, and through me.
Amen.
