Wisdom as a Matter of Reliance

There's an old adage,"When the going gets tough, the tough get going."  Many people subscribe to this method of manifest destiny and individualism when faced with the challenges of a life that can be unsure.  The pull-up-your-bootstraps tachnique for handling the difficulties of this life, though, is upon a presuppositional fallacy, namely that humans can handle life on their own.

Needless to say, if we break down this fallacy, it quickly dissolves to a more foundational flaw in thinking.  The foundational flaw is a misunderstanding of the character of God coupled with a misunderstanding of the nature between man and God.  God, as the infinite and omnipotent Creator, is the supreme source of all truth and knowledge.  Clearly, inside of this scope is the knowledge of life, known as wisdom.

Wisdom generally refers to the knowledge of living, how to live right.  In any situation that challenges us, whether emotionally, physically, relationally, or whatever, there is a right way to handle it, a correct method to overcome the situaton.  Wisdom then, defined, is the attainment of the correct and right way to live life, which is particularly relevant when life hits us.

The Bible equates the beginning of wisdom with the fear of the Lord (Psa. 111:10; Pro. 1:7; 9:10).  This fear is two-fold: reverance for who He is and dread at His power.  Often we understand the fear of the Lord in the former with a neglect for the latter but they are, in fact, infinitely inseparable and interelated.  The dread of the Lord arises out of recognizing who He is, His character and nature.  If we are to make the right decisions, then we have to base our decisions on this fear of the Lord, on wisdom.

Additionally, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not its end.  The end of wisdom, though, arises from the beginning.  The fear of the Lord is a cause.  When we fear the Lord, that fear will motivate us to do one of two things: either we will run away from Him in terror, or we will run towards Him in love and reliance.  Wisdom's end is found in the latter.

Wisdom, then, is the actualization of belief.  When we believe and rely on the Lord, then wisdom is truly wise.  Dependence and reliance on the Lord is wisdom acting on the lives of the wise.  The wise are wise becuase of their utter dependence on the Lord.  If we are to become a people of wisdom, then we must rely on the Lord.  This must be operationalized in our lives, particularly when life throws curve balls.  How well we swing at those errant pitches has nothing to do with our ability, it is only based on the measure of our dependence on the Lord.  Thus, the old adage revised: "when the going gets tough, the wise turn to God."

For further reading: Isa. 59:1; Jer. 29:11-13; Psa. 28:1; 55:1; 145:18; see also the Book of Proverbs, particularly ch. 1-31.