Written by Mackenzie Lancaster, published on her final day as IRSM summer intern... We are very grateful for her work this summer and for introducing this month’s theme.
When Michelle asked me to write a blog for this month's theme: wisdom, I immediately felt unqualified. I'm 21, I'm still in college, I've never had a full-time job, lived on my own, or supported myself. On top of that, my dad, who is a school psychologist, likes to lovingly remind me that my frontal lobe isn't even fully developed yet. So all this to consider, on the wisdom spectrum I'd place myself fairly low, probably a few steps above a teenager (and I hope that those of you who know me would agree).
That being said, I felt the need to research wisdom and what it even means to be wise, and it's a hard concept to pin down with just a single definition.
But there was one conclusion I was able to make: one cannot become wise on their own. Wisdom is something you acquire through talking with a mentor or other people in your life, asking questions, taking chances, living life, and learning from your mistakes. Becoming wise takes time, reflection, and community. Even King Solomon had to ask God for his wisdom, which was then gifted to him, he didn't just wake up on day, the wisest man alive.
Becoming wise also takes some work. You must act for it, but you must also diligently search for it. In my search for the definition of wisdom I began to read Proverbs, which was written by King Solomon, and talks profusely about wisdom. At one point wisdom is even personified and represented by a woman who is then compared to a woman of folly. (I encourage you to read through the book in its entirety if you haven't before!) Reading through Proverbs my question of "how does one become wise?" Was answered:
“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—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Proverbs 2:1-6
So, if you're anything like me, having no idea what wisdom really is and feel very low on the wisdom scale, take heart! Wisdom is a common theme throughout the Bible, but even just these few verses from Proverbs promises that if we yearn for wisdom, if we search for it with our hearts as though it were the most valuable treasure, "then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."