My Wise Hair

My daughter calls it my "wise hair." I just call it gray...and believe me, I have lots of it. I used to toy with my brothers when their hair color changed to varying shades of salt & pepper, but this time when I see them again, I'm afraid the tables will be turned. What I could hide, at one time, underneath my dark brown covering, is now gloriously white and shining in the open for all to see.

That's okay. I think I'm gonna keep my "wise hair." It's growing on me...emotionally and literally.

Yet, no matter how much "wise hair" I have, it seems I'm always lacking on the "wise side." Sometimes I can't believe how I can make such ridiculous decisions in the heat of the moment. Because of that, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Scripture has an answer for my lack of wisdom. James 1:5(NAS) tells us that "if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

"Ask for it," God says, "ask Me, and I'll give it to you."

How does that translate into real life? Well, here's a few examples. When kids are sick, ask for the wisdom on how to make them better. When kids are rebellious, ask for the wisdom to know how to draw their hearts back to God. When jobs are difficult places to be, ask for the wisdom to figure out how to make the workplace better. When there is no job, ask for the wisdom to know what to do. When all hope seems lost, ask for the wisdom to see the bigger picture. Or in my case, when you have a newspaper column due by Tuesday morning, and it's late Monday night, and you have nothing written, ask for the wisdom to know what to write about!

Oh, and get this - I love it that when we ask, He doesn't look at us and remind us that we haven't had our quiet time that day. He doesn't turn His head and stick His nose up in the air until we "do something" to appease the fact that we haven't spent any time with Him. Instead, He encourages us that He "gives to all generously and without reproach." That's just another way of saying that He doesn't point His finger at us. He LAVISHES His wisdom on us without "finding fault," - without an "I told you so" on His lips.

God has given us a beautiful invitation to come to Him and receive what we need to know. But there is one little catch - we simply have to believe that He will give us wisdom, when we ask for it. "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:6,7).

There's a whole other blog post wrapped up in those verses. Maybe that will be for next week, but for now, I think I'd better stop here. But before I go, I have one question for you and for me in light of these verses we've looked at today - what's keeping you and me from asking for wisdom right now?

I agree - absolutely nothing.

Jesus, we know that You know all things and are fully aware of the big picture. However, we don't see it. We need wisdom today, Lord to be able to see with Your eyes how to respond in the situations that come about. We need Your help to "do life" today. We need to see clearly through the muddied water, and we trust that you will give us this wisdom generously and without reproach. Thank You that you love to respond to the prayers of Your children. We love You, Father, and we praise You.