Have you ever been presented with a choice that you had to make the best decision in? What was it you did to help you make a decision?
You could have just graduated high school and you are faced with the choices of going straight to work or going off to college. Maybe you are happy with your job position, and you enjoy your work/co-workers. However, your boss just offered you a new position that will pay more, but the work setting is different from what you like. It could be little choices too. Your two good friends could be in a dispute, and they have turned to you for consolation and help. Who is right, who is wrong, how can you help fix the situation? Has someone asked you to do something that you are unsure of? What do you do to make decisions in these situations?
I go to God. I tend to go to him for answers with a lot of decisions I have to make. After all, Matthew 7:7-8 says to do so, right?
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. – Matthew 7:7-8
Ask, seek, and knock are present terms. They are not past tense. This means they are to be persistent on our part because we are always in the present. We can always go to God. To ask. To seek. To knock. But what is it we are asking for? What are we seeking? What door are we knocking on? Patience? Love? More knowledge? Wisdom?
I recently graduated from college with a bachelor’s in science and am currently looking for a job. However, there is a decision I am faced with. Do I get a part-time job, and go back to school for a master’s in science? Or do I just go and get a full-time job in my current degree? There are several reasons why I am faced with these choices, but the thing I keep asking God is, “What should I do?” We have to be wise in our decision-making and ask for wisdom.
One thing I have noticed with myself, however, is I am not asking for wisdom. Maybe you are not either? My question of, “What should I do,” is a question that asks for knowledge. I am just asking God for facts and information. What I am asking and seeking of him is for him to tell me, “The right decision is…” But wisdom utilizes knowledge already known to make good judgment. I mean, look at Solomon, who asked God for wisdom, not knowledge. Did he ask God which mother was the correct mother when he was presented with that case of two women fighting over the baby? No, he utilized the knowledge he already had regarding mothers and came up with a solution that brought to light who the real mother was.
Now, I am not saying that we should not go to God when faced with decisions. And I am not saying that asking for knowledge is bad. Knowledge is perfectly fine to ask for in general, God teaches many, many things. But maybe you could join me in asking him to become wise in the decisions we are faced with. He has already provided us so much knowledge regarding all sorts of things. I mean, even the Bible is jam-packed with information, facts, and teachings. Let us start utilizing this knowledge, putting it into practice. Knowledge without wisdom is useless. We need to show the knowledge we have in our actions.
Instead of asking, “what should I do in this situation,” let us ask, “make me wise in this situation!”
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God. Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5
Featured Image by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
Scriptural Musings with Booferchick 