Get Wisdom

Proverbs 4:5

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

When God says to get wisdom, He is not suggesting that you get it, but He is commanding that you get it. Life is filled with many decisions, decisions that often we don't know what to do. The fool is the one who makes decisions without the wisdom to make them, and the fool suffers the consequences of those decisions for years and hurts his future in the meantime. The command to get wisdom means there are several things you must do to get it.

First, you need to know you need wisdom. The fact that God said to get wisdom means that you don't have the wisdom that you need to make a decision. There is nothing wrong with not knowing everything; there is something wrong with not getting wisdom to help when you don't know what to do. Everyone needs wisdom. A wise leader is wise enough to know that they don't know everything and are willing to get wisdom from those who do have it in the areas they lack.

Second, you need to be humble enough to ask people for wisdom. Pride is the only thing that gets in the way of asking for wisdom. Proverbs 16:18 warns, Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. When you don't have the wisdom in an area, you should be wise enough to ask others who do have the wisdom to help you out of your situation. Asking others for wisdom does not make you an idiot for not knowing; it makes you wise for knowing that you need to ask others who can help you in that area. If you let pride get in your way to ask others for wisdom, your pride will cause you to suffer for moving on in an area that you don't know what to do. You cannot avoid your situation, so ask people who have wisdom to help you get out of your situation.

Third, get wisdom from the right places. Some seek wisdom from those they feel comfortable with, but that does not mean you will get the right wisdom. You need to get wisdom from people who have their spiritual priorities straight. Psalm 1 is a good guide for the type of person you need to ask wisdom from. If you get wisdom from someone whose spiritual priorities are wrong, they may get you out of your situation, but they will also pull you away from God. Get wisdom from those who walk with God and are soul winners because God gives those people a special wisdom that He does not give to others.

Fourth, obey the wisdom given to you. Getting wisdom does you no good if you don't follow its advice. Many have gotten wisdom, but they did not obey it because it was not what they wanted to do. Their choice to disobey wisdom led to their heartache. If you are humble enough to ask the right people for wisdom, be wise enough to follow their advice so you can do the right thing and avoid the heartache that comes from doing the wrong thing.

Fifth, get understanding while you work wisdom. While you do what you are told to do, learn the principles and steps of what you were told to do so you will understand what to do the next time, and have the ability to help others who face what you have faced. God gave you your situation for you to learn from it so you can help others. Don't waste wisdom’s opportunity to teach you understanding. God can use you in a greater way if you will get understanding from the wisdom given to you.