Needing Wisdom

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8 ESV)

When we pray, and we ask God for wisdom, I believe it is perfectly okay for us to make certain that we have heard the Lord correctly, and that we didn’t misunderstand his counsel to us, and also to make certain that it was indeed God speaking to us, and not our own emotions, and not other voices in our heads. But, when he assures us of his counsel, and that this was indeed him speaking, because it was biblical, then we need to “take it to the bank,” so to speak, and hold on to it fast, and do what the Lord is counseling us to do. 

For we can’t keep going back and forth like on a teeter-totter questioning God and his instructions to us. And we can’t let other people’s opinions cause us to waver in unbelief, too. If we have been assured of God’s counsel, that it is biblically supported, then we need to stay the course, and do what he says to do, and believe him and trust him with the results, even if we can’t immediately see the fruit of what we believe he has said for us to do. And we must trust in his timing in this, too.

For our God often works behind the scenes, so we are not always going to see what he is doing outwardly and visibly. But we must not let lack of physical evidence of him working to cause us to doubt that he is working. For example, you may have a prompting of the Holy Spirit to share a word of encouragement with someone, but there is no response back. Thus, the temptation may be to wonder if you did the right thing, but if it was something the Scriptures encourage us to do, we should trust the Lord.

For we are not always going to see the results of our labors here on this earth, and we may never know how God is going to use our obedience to minister to the lives of people we may never even meet in this life. And the Scripture that comes to my mind the most here is the one where it says:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV)

So, just because you get no response, it doesn’t mean that a seed has not been planted if you have shared with someone an encouragement (includes exhortations and urgings) from God’s word. And you may even die not knowing how it was used at all. So don’t get discouraged and don’t give up following the leading of the Holy Spirit just because you received no response. If the seed was planted, the Lord Jesus can bring that back to the minds of those to whom the seed has been given, even years later.

But then there are those who ask God for counsel and wisdom, but they wait until he answers before they decide whether or not they want to take his counsel. So they are those who do not ask in faith, believing that God is going to do what they ask if they are asking in faith and with the right motives and for the right purposes. For they just want to see what God’s word says first, and then they decide if that is what they want to do or not. So, they are the double-minded who will receive nothing from the Lord.

So, don’t be those who waver back and forth between what they believe, going from this side to the next and then back to the first side, and so on and so forth, because they are never decided in what they really believe, which is also evidenced by their actions (their fruit). And if the Lord calls you and he counsels you to send a card to someone or to share a Scripture verse or to share a song to encourage someone in his/her walk of faith, don’t give up if you don’t hear back. Just keep trusting the Lord, and keep obeying.

I Just Keep Trusting My Lord

By John W. Peterson

I just keep trusting my Lord as I walk a long

I just keep trusting my Lord and He gives a song

Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

He's a faithful friend, such a faithful friend

I can count on Him to the very end

Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

I just keep trusting my Lord on the narrow way

I just keep trusting my Lord as He leads each day

Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will see me through

He's a faithful guide, such a faithful guide

He is always there walking by my side

Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will see me through

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8R9Kb8krko

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