The Balance Between Faith and Wisdom

tug of war wisdom an d doubt

James 1:5-8 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Youtube fixing dryer… missed one step..

Lack wisdom

5 If any of you lacks wisdom,

Ask God

let him ask God,

Our Source of Wisdom

We have a big problem in our world today. And this is to much information.. someone asks you something you don’t know..what is it that you usually say? …google it?

Ask sirI? Ask alexa? I mean all the answers are out ther right? I think we have so much information that we are not even sure what source to trust anymore.

Who are your go to’s?

You need car advice? Who do you ask?

You need medical advice? Financial advice?

Marriage advice? Parenting Advice?

Wisdom.. not only biblical wisdom but practical as well again James wants you to take what you know and put it into action. So he wants us to live obedient lives according to bible’s teachings.

Proverbs 2:6 (ESV)

6 For the Lord gives wisdom;     from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Ask seek and knock

Ask..

So we pray

In Psa 73, Asaph is on the verge of stumbling as he sees how easy life can be for sinners, whom God doesn’t test/try.

Psalm 73:3-4 (ESV)

3 For I was envious of the arrogant     when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs until death;     their bodies are fat and sleek.

Psalm 73:11-12 (ESV)

11 And they say, “How can God know?     Is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked;     always at ease, they increase in riches.

Asaph looks at his own life, and says, “I don’t get away with

anything; God always chastens me. What’s the deal?”

Psalm 73:13-14 (ESV)

13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean     and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken     and rebuked every morning.

God don’t you love me?

Now Asaph goes to the Temple, and looks at the whole situation of the wicked through God-given wisdom. He realizes sinners aren’t really getting away w/ anything.

They’ll pay for all their iniquity in eternity.

Psalm 73:16-18 (ESV)

16 But when I thought how to understand this,     it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;     then I discerned their end.

18 Truly you set them in slippery places;     you make them fall to ruin.

God had given Asaph the wisdom he needed, to see things as they really were.

Then we seek

I want to focus on the seeking part here today when it comes to wisdom

Wisdom takes time but we want our answer now.. we have all turned into Veruca salt Pic

I want it know..

Job 28:12-15,23 (ESV)

12 “But where shall wisdom be found?     And where is the place of understanding? 13 Man does not know its worth,     and it is not found in the land of the living. 14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’     and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ 15 It cannot be bought for gold,     and silver cannot be weighed as its price. 23 “God understands the way to it,     and he knows its place.

We need to seek the source of this knowledge every day

Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

And we knock

Communing with the spirit.. gaining wisdom through relationship, trust, patience, perserverance and trials.

God does not want to give you short cuts

He wants to offer you a lifetime of intamicy.

Give generously

who gives generously

when you pray, seek and dwell with God, he gives to you without any reservations…

car Keys to your kid for the first time

God gives to us because he loves to do it…

We are his kids whom he loves and wants to bless but who also knows best for us.

I don’t give the keys to my kids when they are 5..

Without reproach

to all without reproach

Our stock in wisdom

How do we ask?

Ask in faith/no doubting

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

What do we mean here in faith?

ask with a firm confidence in the reliability of God's wisdom - that God's ways truly are best"

We ask like Jesus. Before the cross.. Father will you take this cup from me.... not my will be done but your will be done

David.. and his infant son

2 Samuel 12:21-23 (Esv)

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Kjv when it comes to doubting says without wavering

Careful what you ask for.. are you ready for God’s answer

Why do we doubt?

.. we cant make up our minds on hard decisions

Unable to make a hard decision

We do not trust God..

Paul gave some similar advice in

Ephesians 4:14 (Esv)

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

To deviate from the truth can never be wise… The wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.

—Dietrich Bonhoefer

Matthew 17:20 (ESV)

20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Faith like the blind man

Faith like the bleeding woman who touched Jesus coat

Faith like the friends of the paralytic man

Our stability in wisdom

No expectations

7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

We are unstable without Jesus

Jesus sermon where our foundation is

Matthew 7:26-27 (ESV)

26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.