For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; Proverbs 2:3
What do you do when you just don't seem to have the wisdom and the understanding to deal with a situation? Simple . . . you cry out to God for it.
Proverbs tells us that we need to "cry for discernment." The word "cry" here is the Hebrew word that means to call out or to summon. Now, we cannot summon God - but we can request His presence and His ability to see things. This is the best thing to do when you don't know what to do. Cry out to God for the ability to determine the difference between things. That is what discernment is - the ability to distinguish between two things that are different. Some times this is not as easy as it is on Sesame street when they ask which things are different. Some times there is a subtlety to our choices - and often that subtlety is there by design of the devil, who desires to deceive us. That is why we need God's discernment to know the difference between things - especially when it is between settling for what we want - and striving for God's best.
The second thing we are told to do is to "lift our voice for understanding." Lifting your voice here means to "give" it for the sake of understanding things. We give our voices for a number of things in life - but do we give it for understanding. The word for understanding here means "insight into things." It is one thing to just take the world as it comes to us - but it is another to begin to gain insight into what is happening in our own lives as well as the lives of others. That requires grasping the purposes and plans of God - as well as His commandments. When we look at things through His prism - suddenly what seemed to be merely white light - is broken into numerous components. We see motives - we see the problem of our own heart - we see a world fallen and sinful. Understanding means that we see things far better than when we approach them with our human wisdom alone. There is the problem that often besets us - we are approaching things from our own perspective rather than from Gods perspective. That is the reason why we need to call out to Him and give our voice to asking questions and seeking answers from His mind - from His Word - from His heart. When we do this - then we are living according to wisdom.
What do you do when you just don't seem to have the wisdom and the understanding to deal with a situation? Simple . . . you cry out to God for it.
Proverbs tells us that we need to "cry for discernment." The word "cry" here is the Hebrew word that means to call out or to summon. Now, we cannot summon God - but we can request His presence and His ability to see things. This is the best thing to do when you don't know what to do. Cry out to God for the ability to determine the difference between things. That is what discernment is - the ability to distinguish between two things that are different. Some times this is not as easy as it is on Sesame street when they ask which things are different. Some times there is a subtlety to our choices - and often that subtlety is there by design of the devil, who desires to deceive us. That is why we need God's discernment to know the difference between things - especially when it is between settling for what we want - and striving for God's best.
The second thing we are told to do is to "lift our voice for understanding." Lifting your voice here means to "give" it for the sake of understanding things. We give our voices for a number of things in life - but do we give it for understanding. The word for understanding here means "insight into things." It is one thing to just take the world as it comes to us - but it is another to begin to gain insight into what is happening in our own lives as well as the lives of others. That requires grasping the purposes and plans of God - as well as His commandments. When we look at things through His prism - suddenly what seemed to be merely white light - is broken into numerous components. We see motives - we see the problem of our own heart - we see a world fallen and sinful. Understanding means that we see things far better than when we approach them with our human wisdom alone. There is the problem that often besets us - we are approaching things from our own perspective rather than from Gods perspective. That is the reason why we need to call out to Him and give our voice to asking questions and seeking answers from His mind - from His Word - from His heart. When we do this - then we are living according to wisdom.
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