Lacking Wisdom? :: Deeper Devotion

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

It’s great to be home! Last Friday night my wife and I drove 12 hours overnight to Florida from North Carolina. The occasion: my younger sister is getting married to an amazing man this Friday evening. It’s been more than a year since I was last in the small town that I grew up in. Sunday I was able to attend the church I was baptized in as a child and served in as a college graduate. Today I was able to get my hair cut at a local barber shop, eat lunch with a friend, and fall asleep on one of my old couches. Life is good! I love being home. None of these activities, however, can be compared to spending time with my old family, new family, and very-soon-to-be family. We have gone to church together, spent time at the beach, and thrown a surprise party for my sister’s birthday. Possibly the greatest thrill of being here, however, is to just spend time with friends and family.

I love to spend time with my dad. He is a wealth of knowledge and has a special insight on situations that I could have never seen without him. It’s interesting, though, to see the ways in which my relationship with Him has changed as I’ve grown older. I haven’t always accepted his instruction and wisdom with such anticipation. In fact, you might say that He regularly had to “beat” it into me. When I was younger it was a necessity for my dad to use discipline as a means of teaching me life lessons and important truths. As a child, “tap taps” on the hand or restrictions from certain activities were the only ways to get a point through my thick skull. Now we are able to talk about life, school, anticipations, car troubles, and more as adults. I understand the value of approaching my dad when presented with tough situations rather than trying to hide them from him. The growth is amazing. I find that I still look to him for wisdom. Now, however, it is a friendship as well as a father/son relationship.

Isn’t this the way that it should be with our Lord as well? Where are you in your relationship with Him? How long have you been in this stage? Sometimes I am afraid to fully examine myself in this manner. The truth is, the Lord longs for you to approach Him when you are in need of wisdom. He desires to have daily conversations with you, and to personally help you through tough situations. Too many of us will never reach this point in our relationship, but rather, remain the reluctant child forcing our God to spend more time as a “disciplinarian” than a “counselor”. In doing this, we will never experience the abundant life that Jesus came to earth to give us. We will miss opportunities to minister to other because of our own immaturity. I will always be my father’s first born son. He will always be my father. As I continue to grow in maturity, though, so does the dynamics of our relationship. I will always receive wisdom and instruction from him… how much easier it is though, now that I understand the joy of approaching him for it first!

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