Wisdom

There’s an old adage in the world of aviation that says, “The superior pilot uses his superior judgment to keep him out of situations that require the use of his superior piloting skills.” In other words…making good choices from the get-go keeps us from having to squirm our way out of a bad or uncomfortable situation in the first place.

I know I’ve relied on my faith—and my belief that God does, indeed, intervene on our behalf—waaay too many times. I’m sure God has shaken his head many a time thinking, “Greg…dude…get it right the first time and you wouldn’t have to go through this.”

The reality for all of us is that we won’t always make the right decisions or choices the first go-round. But that shouldn’t keep up us from striving for the knowledge and the discipline to make better choices.

The Bible uses the word “wisdom” 215 times (in the New International Version), and for good reason. It all starts, as Psalm 111:10 puts it, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” With that wisdom comes understanding. With that understanding you can then build your faith and deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Screw-ups happen. Mistakes happen. Bad things happen. Life happens. We have thousands of choices to make and thousands of opportunities to make sound judgments.

Just like the superior pilot will have all the knowledge available to him to know his skills, his aircraft, physics, the weather and all the “what ifs”…so too should we attain all that is available to us to deepen our understanding and wisdom of the God we love and serve.

Greg Morton
© April 4, 2009