Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days. Proverbs 19:20 One of the many amazing things about God is that as long as you’re committed to walking with Him, He never allows an experience to go to waste. That is especially true of the difficulties and suffering you’re sure to encounter as you make your way through this journey called life. The apostle James understood this well, so as he closed out a section of his epistle dealing with suffering, he wrote, “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). James had no doubt observed what many Christian leaders since the first century have seen: that people don’t always know how to respond wisely during difficult times. That is why he instructed the first-century believers, who lived during very perilous times, to seek God for wisdom—and to be assured that He would give them what they asked for. God has promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks for it. And like many of His gifts, He uses many means to provide you with the wisdom you ask for—His written Word, His Holy Spirit, life experiences, and other people. So ask God for wisdom, but be open to the many different ways He can give you what you’ve asked for.
That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3
