This is a five-part series on allowing the wisdom of God to heal us from life’s disappointments:

**If you personally know me, you would know I describe myself as a traveling enthusiast.  Despite all my traveling errs (The Art of Traveling Light), the spontaneity and thrill of exploring new places, or even learning more about familiar ones, combat my desire of planning because there’s so much I can do in order to prepare before embarking on a journey.  My dearest moments happen during the week before traveling because I get to day-dream about what I’m about to encounter.  In the many instances, my sojourns are exceedingly above and beyond my expectations, but there are those very few times when my experiences are inferior to what I had hoped. 

We’ve all been disappointed with how unexpected life can be.  There are plenty of antidotes the world can offer to numb our pain of having to live with our disillusions.  Oftentimes, our wounds are not wholly healed because we keep numbing them with distractions.  It only takes one trigger to bring all the pain back when we were meant to confront it directly.  God wants us to bring our hurts to Him with the promise of a much stronger antidote.**

Wisdom is Free

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

As a self-proclaimed foodie, one of my preferred ways to travel is on a large and luxurious cruise ship because we consume all of this “free food.” I mean, who doesn’t love a free frozen treat after a long day spent exploring the hot and humid Caribbean islands?  Then there’s the hard-working crew who are often the friendliest and sweetest people you will ever meet.  They will make you feel like royalty at dinner time, particularly on those nights we get to wear our formal attire.

But then I married a chef who informed me nothing is free in this life but salvation in Jesus Christ.  I convinced him to board a ship as part of our honeymoon, but he firmly believes cruise ships make up their profits on alcohol and the outrageous excursion fees.  Unfortunately, we don’t share the same love for cruising, which probably means I’ll never step on a ship ever again.  Nothing is free, but he emphasized to me “especially food!”

Just as salvation is free, James writes to us that wisdom is freely given if we ask for it.

Frankly, we all desire wisdom but we just don’t know how to ask for it.  When our lives seem to be cruising smoothly, there is no point of seeking Mother Wisdom and her counsel.  However, when trials pay us an unsolicited visit and we are left shipwrecked, we are suddenly in need of rescue.  Rescue can take its time to arrive in rough seas, but James is very specific in this verse about what to do in midst of waiting.  As we’ve previously learned on How to Travel Light in a Heavy World: Wisdom Takes Time, God promises us patience over a quick fix.

Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom… He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.

Proverbs 2:3-7

We must cry out for discernment, but our pride frequently interrupts these precious moments of vulnerability.  Brokenness is essential in a Christian’s life because the “crying out” part is actually the genesis of wisdom.  It is much easier to be the one giving the advice than receiving it.  Most times, we know the solution to the problem, we just don’t want to act upon it.  This is why most elders will tell us to follow our own advice when we encounter trials in our lives.  But our pride won’t let us.  The “acting upon it” or the application of such knowledge is wisdom.  Wisdom requires us to sail beyond the profound waters of knowledge.  She wants us to sink deeper than what we’ve ever been taught. 

If we opt to get on board, she will take us through the journey of healing and restoration.

Ask.  Ask away, the Word says.

I stared at this piece of paper today in awe of the Scripture written on it, it was Jeremiah 3:33,

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

 

Then, there’s Jesus Himself who says,

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

But, you say, “I’ve asked and asked, but there’s no response.”

Then let me ask you these two questions,

“According to Proverbs 2, God is a shield to those who walk uprightly.  Are you walking uprightly?”

We are not always going to make perfect decisions, but we can strive to treat our neighbors and enemies with the utmost respect and kindness.  We must humbly ask for forgiveness when we’ve offended someone.  We are also called to forgive, even when we are being persecuted or abused and it doesn’t seem like justice will ever occur.  When we have vengeance in our hearts, we are to follow David’s example in Psalm 109 and confess it.  This obviously doesn’t happen overnight, but Psalm 109 is definitely a start to an honest conversation with God.

We often blame people and our circumstances, but God asks us to look to Him because when we do our part He becomes our shield and our protector.  He then asks us to examine our hearts and test our faith as Jesus resides in us, if we don’t, the Bible says we are disqualified (2 Corinthians 13:5).  The next verse, however, exhorts us not to do evil and to “do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified.”

“What are you praying for?“

If your prayers revolve around your fears, hatred, apathy, envy, strife, and so on then their foundation isn’t to build others but yourself.  God is not in the business of picking sides within His own people.  He is in the business of restoring and transforming broken hearts and troubled souls.

Psalm 37:4 is one of the most quoted verses out there, but if you dissect it you will realize that God only grants us what we ask only if and when it is according to His will.  This Psalm contains the secret to obtaining a fulfilling answer to our plea, “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Let’s put it into perspective then…

God will give us the desire of our hearts when we delight in Him because only then will He show us the why we are in the place we are and the how to overcome it.  As we delight in the Lord, our hearts are being transformed to resemble more like His.  Our prayers will then revolve around love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

When we turn to God with our requests, He will be pleased to honor them because He will be honored in return.

Why delight in a God who allows so much evil to happen?

I’m sure this question I’ve just posed isn’t the first time you’ve heard it.  In fact, you’ve probably asked this yourself!  To be blunt, this is a question I asked myself every day in this past year as I witnessed my God-honoring mother suffer the way she did before the Lord decided it was time for her homecoming.

She suffered, but she knew who her God was.  She knew He loved her.  She obeyed Him when situations worsened.  She helped others in midst of her pain.  She prayed for her friends and her enemies in her deathbed.  And most importantly, she forgave those who had wronged her and she asked forgiveness to those who she had wronged.  She peacefully left knowing she had fulfilled her purpose on Earth.  She not only answered this question, but demonstrated the answer to this question.

Maybe that isn’t the response you were looking for, but when you see it happening before your eyes, something truly changes inside of you.

My mom arrived to her final destination having gained Mother Wisdom.  She spent years asking God for her, but in return she received cancer; but through cancer, God gave her a wonderful gift.  I know it sounds cruel, but it is in our deepest troubles when we are able to grow closer to God.  It is when we are on our knees clinging to Him and asking Him for mercy when He comforts us.  It is when we are angry but choose to go to Him instead of venting to others when He lends us His ear because He is as brokenhearted as we are.  It is when we don’t have the desire to keep going with our days but still praise Him through the stormy waters when He is delighted.

Through us delighting in Him and walking uprightly, then He will grant us our requests which shall be rooted in His will.

We all take a different journey and we may stop in different ports of life, but eventually we are promised the same final destination “for those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

The Wisdom of the Seas is the vessel that will take you to your final destination… home!