Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; … Proverbs 3:13 NKJV

I’ve reached the stage of life where I can gain weight just by thinking about a donut. My physical being seems to attract calories out of the atmosphere like polar molecules bonding to form water. (Disclaimer … I had to look that up. I barely survived Organic Chemistry in college.)

If only gaining wisdom was as easy. 

A lot of what we call wisdom is really just living out the consequences of our bad decisions. It’s hard won and often painful wisdom.

But there is also the wisdom that comes from seeking and finding God.

WISDOM FROM GOD

The word gain in Proverbs 13 can mean to bring out, elicit, or obtain. In simple terms, wisdom is all around us in God’s created world, but it is our job to bring it out.

I think of it as wringing the last drop of water from the sponge. We are actively working to bring out, elicit, or obtain every ounce of moisture. (Note I could have used a metaphor with ice cream here, so you’re welcome).

It is a common expression that we find what we are looking for. This sentiment is often used to encourage us to see the best in other people.

Likewise, the wisdom from God is there when we look for it. The problem is that in our instant satisfaction, answers-at-our-fingertips world, we don’t always spend the time to search for it.

We invest a few clicks and expect an immediate reward. We might have more in common with those mice in a maze looking for their cheese than we want to admit.

But God isn’t a giant gumball machine where we drop in a coin of our time and get something tasty in return. God’s wisdom is meant to shape our lives. 

THE RIGHT WISDOM

Answers acquired with ease don’t make a lasting impact. They satisfy our momentary curiosity—our immediate need to know—but once satisfied, that curiosity turns its attention to something else before the wisdom we’ve just acquired can take hold.

I once panned for gold in a river where gold could really be found. And I did, in fact, find a very, very small bit. I remember the slow tedious work of carefully panning followed by the diligent search through the slush in my pan for one tiny flake of exquisite beauty. 

But best of all, I remember the excitement when I had found it. Would I remember the details of that day so vividly if the treasure had been easily found?

Now, that gold didn’t change my life though the memory of the search is a fond one.

“What we obtain too cheaply we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.” ~Thomas Paine

THE IMPACT OF GODLY WISDOM

What we obtain too cheaply or easily will be easily lost or destroyed. 

But when we spend time in diligent search of God’s wisdom, we come away changed by what we find.

The effort exerted to find wisdom is directly related to the power of that wisdom to change us.

That the search requires diligence doesn’t mean that it is difficult.

1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us that Jesus Christ became wisdom for us. And in Matthew 7:7, Jesus tells us to “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Knock. Find. Gain.

The path to gaining wisdom and understanding isn’t the path to instant answers (though that may sometimes happen), but it is the path to life-transforming, long-lasting truth.