There is an important difference between knowledge and wisdom.  

For example, it is a cold night and you are near freezing. This is a trial or trouble. Knowing how to put dry leaves, small twigs, and branches on cleared ground and set it afire is good knowledge to have in the woods on a cold night. Knowledge is “facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.”

Consider the same scenario, except you are near freezing inside your home. To use your knowledge to build the same fire on your bedroom floor would be disastrous. Just because you know how to build a fire does not mean you should use this knowledge in all situations. Wisdom is “the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment.”

As you can see, taking the knowledge we have and applying it to all the troubling situations or trials in our lives is not wise. In addition, we learned in last week’s blog, Count it  All Joy,  http://bit.ly/2HwY4eM , that we must consider it all joy and be patient when going through trials (trouble) so that we can be victorious and spiritually mature. 

For those of us who do not have the wisdom we need to count it all joy when trouble comes or to be patient until we experience victory, James, the brother of Jesus, advises:

“If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5, Amplified Bible)

Even though you may have been near freezing before, the circumstance has changed. You are not outside, you are inside. You cannot rely on past knowledge or an old experience to get you out of your present trouble. Ask the all-knowing, all wise God to give you the wisdom needed to be victorious and grow spiritually. He will not guess or lie. He knows the true answer.

Seek His wisdom through prayer and the Holy Bible. He will give you the answer to your problem and will not find fault because you may have made poor decisions in the past. That’s good news! Also, the answer may not come when you want it, but it will come right on time. 

Knowing where to go when trouble comes is half the battle. Do you usually rely on the knowledge you have, or do you habitually seek the wisdom of God?  Or do you practice a little of both? #Join the conversation.