Wisdom: A Commodity in Short Supply

If there is a commodity in short supply today, it has to be wisdom.

Like you, I’m often astounded by our leaders’ actions and reactions, beginning with the man in the Oval Office. It’s amazing to say the least that a society that is supposed to be one of the most knowledgeable on record can come up with some of the most foolish ideas as answers to our problems. And then again, maybe it’s not so amazing when you consider that wisdom is rarely sought as the answer to our dilemmas when the Bible says emphatically that it is THE answer. As a friend of mine humorously said recently, “I’ve come to a brilliant conclusion: God is smarter than I am!”

And that’s precisely what wisdom says: God is smarter than we are. Most wouldn’t deny that privately, but few in public office would be willing to admit it because if they did, it would change how we do everything – beginning with education. It doesn’t take a Harvard graduate to deduce that many of the ills facing education today began in 1962 when nine men in black robes decided God wasn’t relevant to education and ruled against asking Him for daily wisdom in applying knowledge to our lives.

Since then, it’s been downhill in many areas, culminating in the murder of innocent school children. Of course, things don’t get better when our nation’s educational elite prefer to believe we came from primordial slime rather than being made in the image of God, and that the beauty of everything on planet earth is simply the result of millions of years of chance! Doesn’t do much for your self-esteem, does it?

The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and in the same Book, Proverbs, it tells us to “above all else, get wisdom.” We are told further to “desire wisdom more than silver and gold.” Suffice all this to say that it is God, not we, who is the source of all wisdom, and if we seek Him and His wisdom, we will find a great treasure, not to be compared with anything else. The Bible says that outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Why? It is because when God offered him wealth, he chose wisdom instead.

It seems that our society could take a hint from The Good Book and begin to ask God for wisdom, especially for our leaders. The Book of James exhorts us, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God” (James 1:5). If we follow this simple injunction, we will begin to find the answers to the plethora of problems that face us.