Our Trust And His Wisdom

Why bother God with our requests and petitions when He knows the beginning from the end anyway? And even if it is not a bother why do we really need to submit any inquiry to Him since He is all-knowing?

Some situations in life are going to teach yes you can do that. Other situations will teach no you cannot do that or maybe at a later time you can do that.

However, there are going to come circumstances within our experiences which warrant wisdom. This type of wisdom can only come from a God not only willing to share His vast, unending insight with us but also warn and educate us about the pitfalls of life because He has been there and done that. Hebrews 4:15 states we can trust in this very fact about God through Christ - 

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin."

As you may observe, in this age of faith, seeking wisdom is half of the answer to why pray, why petition, why we press God for anything - trust is the other answer.

I used to be very impatient and when I experienced an issue I would go directly to a source of help and grab the aide needed. As I have matured in life, I have adopted the practice, depending on the situation, of trying to figure a problem out to the best of my ability before calling on the knowledge and wisdom of those around me. 

This is where growth and maturity happens. In this stage of life where the rubber meets the road, where there is friction - change has to occur for development to proceed. God initiates His formula of pressure over time and believers are refined once more. If He supplied us with the answers to problems on the onset of every issue, there would be no progress in our development. God allows change through all kinds of friction so that in our relationship with Him we move from glory to glory. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18 says it like this -

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

There are other sources of knowledge and wisdom that people place their trust in today. There is the source of the world and all its organizations. There is the source of technology and plethora of information available. There is the source of people and their experiences in life. And there is the source of faith in a God who has created it all, always been there, has a plan for everything and desires relationship with everyone through Christ Jesus.

The problem with consistently relying on anything other than God through a personal relationship with Christ and His Holy Spirit for answers to anything and everything is the limitation of the other sources. God has no limits and desires to share in a developing relationship with us.

A computer can only output or even predict in so much as we input into the machine or computer. With God, He already knows your life backwards and forwards, inside and out.  

God or Yahweh has known the beginning from the end. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. And even transcends time and space because He created them both. He is simply waiting for our humble trust in His wisdom.

Therefore, a cultivated relationship with a created being is what I believe God seeks. Even in the face of Him knowing everything, the fact that He knows everything and owns everything has put humanity in a category that many do not want to accept – we don’t know everything. The beautiful fact here is that God desires to impart His knowledge and wisdom to us.

That is one direction, one part of the relationship God’s movement toward us. What will our movement toward God be?

There is a huge “IF” coming here and “Ifs” are conditional words. This time the condition falls on us. Matthew quotes Jesus saying, 

“seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:33)

The “all these things” that will be given to us are the concerns of life that we deem are necessary and Jesus does not deem priority. Speaking of priority, Jesus states here that IF His kingdom and right-standing with Him are pursued first in the believer’s life then the rest of what we are concerned about in life “will be given to you as well”.

King Solomon found himself in alignment and therefore in favor with God as he was in his early years of ruling Israel. God said to  Solomon, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." 

In Solomon's response to the Lord, he began by stating the major blessings that had been given to his father David and himself. However, the blessings given led to an awesome responsibility - the leadership of God's Nation, Israel. For this leading role, Solomon knew he fell woefully short in experience and needed divine help, so he formed his request as follows - 

“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:7-9)

This begins to tackle the other half why bring a question, request, or issue to our All-Knowing God in the first place – trust.

Christians are in a developing relationship. This means the relationship must be continually cultivated. Unlike our earthly, limited-in-knowledge and wisdom relationships – the bond we have with God, through Christ and the Holy Spirit is on a next level of belief, need to know basis, which seems to be another definition for faith to me.

However, through this relationship and in this faith, God is the potter and the believer is the clay. As He molds us and makes us into His image more every day - to ask questions, to request things, to petition the King is what He expects – so do it, Trust Him. This is how Christians grow and mature. This is how believers get equipped for the next life battle – Our Trust And His Wisdom.