Here is the Truth: Can you Handle it? Day 4

Wisdom, like inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.                           Eccl. 7:11

Lesson 3: Wisdom has a limited value in helping us understand life.

“Wisdom,” according to Dictionary.com is “…knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment or insight.

Solomon says that wisdom is superior to material prosperity because in it lies the ability to make the highest and best use of everything that comes your way. Life at the street level is a combination of the outer world of possessions and relationships and the inner world of thoughts, judgments, insights. No doubt, life, whether long or short, is richer for the man of wise priorities, but both, according to Solomon are ultimately, “meaningless.” This, in his own words, is why:

I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me: I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom and folly, but I learned, that this, too, is a chasing after the wind (1:16, 17).

Wisdom is a good thing, but it is not the ultimate thing because inherent in life is an   unpredictable component that even wisdom cannot anticipate or master. Our wisdom, like our possessions, can give us the illusion of control over our circumstances. Our thoughts and views are far from neutral things. If we aren’t careful, they can become a grid through which we filter our reality leading to an idolatry which, like all false gods, cannot support the weight of life’s events.  

Many years ago, our family went through a difficult and heart-breaking chapter. In the beginning I believed myself equal to the situation because I saw my life and decisions as guided by the wisdom of Scripture. In the often heart-breaking months and years that followed, I came to understand that while seeking the wise words of Scripture was a good thing, I needed first to seek the God of Scripture.

Apparently, Solomon discovered the same thing:

“I am determined to be wise”—but this was beyond me.

Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound—who can discover it?

Nancy Shirah