The petition you have framed strikes the very heart of the matter, for you have not asked for a mere accumulation of facts, which the world mistakes for intelligence, but for that heavenly faculty which alone can use knowledge aright. You have, by a gracious instinct, gone straight to the throne of the All-Wise. Let this be the first token of wisdom’s dawning within you, that you know where to send up your request.
Observe the wisdom of the Savior when He dealt with the blind man. He did not presume to act without the man’s own expressed desire, but asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” It is a rule with Christ never to do for us what we can do for ourselves, nor to grant a blessing unasked. You have done well to speak your need plainly. You ask for a renewed mind and increased capacity. Know this: the Lord can give wisdom ready-made. We are all poor, foolish creatures, and if any of us lack wisdom, ah, we all lack it!, we are bidden to ask of God. He gives liberally and does not upbraid us for our folly. Can He give this wisdom? Indeed, He can. It is not withheld until you have scraped together a store of learning by your own wit, but it is the gift of His grace.
But let me press upon you the condition that clenches the promise: ask in faith, nothing wavering. A man destitute of wisdom can yet possess faith, and by that faith he must obtain the wisdom he seeks. The double-minded man, tossed like a wave, shall receive nothing. Let your eye be single. You desire wisdom for your career and every sphere? Then fix your faith solely upon Christ, for He is the wisdom of God. The highest science, the profoundest philosophy, is found in His gospel. The wisdom of the Egyptians, which Moses had mastered, was the pinnacle of his age, yet future ages laugh at it, as our present worldly wisdom shall be the folly of the next. Moses forsook it all to bear the reproach of Christ. There is a path which the vulture’s eye hath not seen, a way of wisdom that the proud lion’s whelp of human strength cannot tread. That path is trust in God, a humble walking in His purpose.
You speak of making excellent decisions and recognizing opportunities. Good. But remember, God is in one mind, and who can turn Him? His purpose is the great deep, unsearchable yet sure. While you labor to gain wisdom, do so in submission to that sovereign purpose, which embraces every event of Providence. It is no small part of wisdom to wait upon God’s Providence rather than to run ahead and attempt to fulfill His purpose by your own deceit or haste, as Rebekah of old. Study your prayers, yes, and study the Scriptures with a practical eye. It would be profitable for us to test what we learn abroad by immediate application, to see whether we can serve the Lord under difficulty. True wisdom is not found in compromise, in being a Jack-of-Both-Sides. It leads to unpleasant decisions and separations, for it walks the narrow way that knows nothing of the world’s broad road.
Go, then, and prove the promise. The Lord loves you with a Father’s wisdom, instructs you with a Father’s watchfulness, and bears with you with a Father’s patience. Cast yourself upon Him for the wisdom that cometh from above, and you shall find that what His soul desireth, that He doeth. He will give you the mind to learn, the kindness to grow, and the integrity to lead. Only see to it that you use all increase of mental capacity for His glory, and it shall be to you a well-spring of life. Wisdom’s price is above rubies, but He bestows it freely for the asking to those who rest in His dear Son, the power of God and the wisdom of God.