How the Holy Spirit Leads Us With Wisdom
Illustration:An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."
The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."
Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen, Absolute Zero Gravity, Simon & Schuster.
1. The Holy Spirit is the embodiment of Godly wisdom understood by those who are intimate with Him. Isaiah wrote, "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." (Isaiah 11:2)
Ask the Lord to fill you with all of His prudence, sagacity and the power of applying truth to every situation.
Illustration:A colleague of mine at NASA was assigned to prepare a presentation on lessons learned from our bad experiences with the Hubble Space Telescope. On his chart at the briefing, lesson No.1 read: "In naming your mission, never us a word that rhymes with trouble."
Reader’s Digest, March 1993, Page 128
2. The Holy Spirit gives direction to leaders when they ask for it. Dr. Luke wrote, "During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." (Acts 16:9,10) Ask the Lord for the Spirit’s wisdom needed to lead you to the kinds of ministries that will accomplish God’s priorities rather than your own.
Illustration:Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.
J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 80.
3. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom to those who are called to speak in a way that solves complicated problems. When others are not able to come up with the solutions, the Spirit often gives a Godly leader the way when there seems to be no way out of a fix. Paul wrote, "Praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Col. 1:9) Ask the Lord to fill you with the spiritual wisdom so that you can unlock the doors of opportunities for the accomplishment of God’s greater will in your personal life and ministries.
4. The Holy Spirit illuminates more of the wisdom that is found in Christ, His words and His ministry examples. Paul wrote, "We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, the power and wisdom of God." (I Cor. 1:23,24) Ask the Lord to help you to find more of your wisdom through the study of the scriptures and in the life, words and ministries of Jesus Christ.
5. The Holy Spirit gives divine insight through intuitive thinking and senses. James wrote, "Wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." (James 3:17) Ask the Lord to help you finely tune your intuitive thinking and senses to be alert to what the Spirit is leading you to do, think and be.
6. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom for the understanding of a problem, a complex person or a troubling situation so that resolution can be found. James wrote, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him." (James 1:5) Ask the Lord to give you supernatural wisdom to solve problem and bring resolution to all types of conflicts.
7. The Holy Spirit gives the gift of wisdom to some people who can speak creatively and righteously concerning a problem, a crisis or a complicated situation. David wrote, "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost places." (Psalm 51:6) Ask the Lord to give you creative solutions to complex problems that will be evidence of His supernatural intervention and help.
8. The Holy Spirit gives special wisdom to people like Solomon that serve as examples for generations. Samuel wrote, "God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore." (I Kings 4:29) Ask the Lord for great wisdom to accomplish all that the Lord has planned for you enabling you not to miss out on any opportunity to serve.
9. The Holy Spirit gives timely wisdom to avert crisis. One day two
prostitutes came before Solomon claiming a baby son to be their own. Solomon said, "Bring me a sword. He then gave an order: ‘Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.’ The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, ‘Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him... Then the king gave his ruling: ‘Give the living baby to the first woman, Do not kill him; she is his mother." When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice." (I Kings 3:24-28) When you are in facing complicated decisions, ask the Lord for a special measure of His wisdom to decide justly.
10. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom to people who meet God’s conditions for its bestowal. Solomon wrote, "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:1-6)
Ask the Lord to help you meet all of the conditions for the acquiring of wisdom: teachableness, humility, fear of God, knowledge of God, searching attitude, obedience, endurance and prayerfulness.
Conclusion:Automaker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn’t find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life--but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so high.
Steinmetz’s reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Ford paid the bill.
Today in the Word, MBI, April 1990, p. 27.
