The Quest

One of the most critical virtues you need for a successful life journey is wisdom. Solomon knew this when God offered to grant him any request he might make. King Solomon didn't ask for riches, health, or power; he asked for wisdom Of course, with the wisdom, God gave him riches, health and power as well.

Wisdom is the ability to gather information and apply it appropriately. Wisdom is the ability to make sound and healthy decisions over the course of one's life. Wisdom is knowing how to apply truth in given real-life circumstances. Wisdom is acting in one's true self-interest-in alignment with God's Ground Rules for life.

Does this last definition surprise you? Solomon said that when individuals act wisely, they do it for their own benefit Wise people, for example, understand that failure to keep one's promises makes them untrustworthy-certainly not a reputation conducive to success in business or relationships. Wise people understand that it's in their own interest to earn the respect of others, to handle finances with an eye on the long term, and to see to it that they learn how to act appropriately within the various contexts of their lives.

An early barrier that many people encounter on the first part of their Quest is the notion that they must hear from God before they can know what they are supposed to do. I'm not referring here to what is already written in the Scriptures. One doesn't need to pray over whether or not to rob banks, lie to people or abuse our spouses. What entraps people is seeking to hear from God about what school to attend, job to accept, car to purchase or other such matters.

One of the first commands God gave Adam was to name the animals in the Garden of Eden. How did Adam go about this? Did a weird-looking animal with a very long neck walk in front of Adam while at his side God whispered the word, "giraffe?" Did he hear God say, "That funny animal swinging from tree branch to tree branch-call it a monkey?" Not at all. Adam was expected to take his considerable talents, potential, gifts, and mental capacity and exercise them.

When St. Paul went from city to city only to find doors being closed in his face, was he "missing God?" No, he was learning to make decisions. Certainly the Apostle heard from God from time to time. However, his norm became making his own decisions and learning from those decisions.

Sometimes we look back at a decision and think, "Wow, that wasn't all that wise," or, "My, that was downright foolish." But we need to understand that this isn't the same as saying, "That decision was sinful." How many people are crippled by false guilt because they made some unwise decisions? Being disappointed is one thing, but guilt is neither relevant nor useful in matters of decision-making regarding situations that aren't issues of morality.

Just as God gave Adam and Eve arenas within which to develop wisdom (among other things), He has given parents and children arenas where they need to learn the importance of seeking wisdom. How often do bright, healthy, knowledgeable children go out into the world as adults and experience failure after failure in relationships or business pursuits? How many children who could cite hundreds of Bible verses are clueless as adults about how to get through life in this world with skill? Why is this? Because they weren't instructed in the need to seek wisdom, to learn to act in their own self-interest, to learn sound decision-making strategies.

Wisdom isn't something one attains before moving on to other pursuits. It's a life-long learning and acquiring process. In reality, the more wisdom you attain, the more you realize how little wisdom you have. This is because wise people are humble. Furthermore, their humility actually inspires them to continually seek more and more wisdom.

Wise people are readily teachable. One of the things that separates the wise from the unwise is that the wise aren't afraid to say, "I don't know." Subsequently, wise people also understand that mistakes are part of the learning process. So when they make mistakes, they don't waste their energy indulging feelings of failure or damaged pride. They simply gain more understanding and move on.

Wise people learn from their mistakes-but they prefer to learn from the mistakes of others - which is why wise people love hanging out with wise people. When a wise person wishes to gain wisdom in becoming a more effective father, he or she seeks out "grandfathers" whose children exhibit great life skills. If a wise person wishes to become successful in handling money matters, he or she goes to people who have experienced great financial success over a long period of time. If you wish to become more fully the person God has created you to become, you wisely spend your time with people who are doing the same thing.

As a general rule, wise people don't waste much time being with foolish people. Now, I'm not speaking of those less fortunate or those who have experienced temporary setbacks. Wise people are generous in these situations. What I'm referring to here are individuals who never learn from their mistakes, who constantly experience failure after failure and are attached to their status as victims. These people the Bible calls "fools," and they will only waste your time, energy and counsel. You may wish to pray for such people, but don't spend much time with them.

The Quest to become the person God created you to be is an individual Quest. The path you follow is your own. But this doesn't mean you will be alone on your journey. You will discover that your path crosses the paths of others. Some can serve you with their wisdom, and some you will want to help along their way with the wisdom you yourself have gained.

Many people who can give you wisdom are no longer living, but their wisdom is. Right now, available to you, are kings and queens, philosophers and storytellers, scientists and spiritual guides, whose writings are filled with knowledge and understanding to speed you on your way. Why rob yourself of their wealth of wisdom? Why not pursue such people as teachers and guides?

Of course, the most important source of wisdom to seek out is God. Not only should we constantly ask Him for increased wisdom, but also, we should consistently peruse the scriptures for insights on how life should be lived. God's desire is for us to mature, and for every area of our life to be drenched with His life, power and blessing. He wishes for our success more deeply and profoundly than we do.