Proverbs 8:11 says "For wisdom is better than rubies: and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." Something else in scripture is better than rubies . . . the virtuous woman. That is not what I am going to talk about today, perhaps another day. But here we find wisdom. God so greatly prizes wisdom that basically He says, if you take everything you've ever desired, put it on a scale and put wisdom on the other side, wisdom would win out, by far! Wisdom doesn't even compare to the everything we have, do, or ever will desire!
In the first three verses of this chapter we see what wisdom does for us. Let's take a moment to look at those verses: "Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors." Wisdom does three things for us in this passage. We are going to explore these three things.
Have you ever had a problem beyond your control. You might have felt like you were in the dark, going through a misty fog and you weren't quite sure what you were to do next? Wisdom, first of all, helps us see afar. Have you ever been down in a valley? Can you see much more than the valley and the things close to you? Now think of being on a mountain. I lived with my husband in East Tennessee. There are mountains there. LOTS of mountains. As you go down in the valleys, you see the beauty of the trees, the tiny details of the flowers, but if you keep following that mountainous road you will eventually find yourself on top of that mountain. The view is spectacular! You don't see the bark of each individual tree, you see all the trees all at once! The rolling hills seems to go on and on. Being up high helps you see where you've been and where you are going. It gives you a perspective you need to make it through the valleys. It points you in the right direction so you don't get lost as you go down only seeing the individual problems, but knowing there is a greater purpose for whatever you are going through. We need those mountain top perspectives. Wisdom gives us that. It makes me think of another verse, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3:17) All these things that high heavenly, mountain top, wisdom gives us, pureness, peace, gentleness, easy to be talked to, mercy, good fruits, makes us love each person equally, and we find ourselves without hypocrisy. All these things are things we need in life but especially in trials.
The next thing we find this wisdom does is it stands by the way in the places of the paths, crying unto us. With her voice and her presence Wisdom shows us the right paths. She doesn't just give us the right perspective but she shows us how to stay on the right paths. It would be easy to get down in the valley, lose sight of our perspective and forget the right way to go, getting lost, but Wisdom is there calling to us, showing us the correct path. Another Bible verse comes to mind, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path." (Psalms 119:105) This begs the question, where do you think we get the wisdom we need? In James we see that it comes from God. Prayer, talking to God, yes, those things give us wisdom. In Psalms we see that God's word lights our paths. Wisdom cries to us from the path, keeping us on the path with her voice, her words, and with her presence, possibly her illumination. I think it would be safe to say that God's words should be the main source of our wisdom!
Then we see that last thing Wisdom does for us. She gives us the right mountain top perspective, she keeps us on the right path. and she helps us pick the right doors to enter (vs. 3). Wisdom gets us to where we need to be but then sometimes we are presented with multiple choices . . . how do you choose. Some doors you definitely know are not right to walk through, but some doors the pros and cons are just as good. They aren't wrong, they aren't even merely good, they might both be "the best", but Wisdom helps us choose the right door. This is where another verse comes in handy, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5, 6) God has given me this verse afresh and anew this year. Look at it closely. You probably already know what I'm going to say, but I was astounded when God taught it to me. I was wanting God to show me a specific route in our life that He wanted us to go and I was claiming this verse and reminding Him that if we trust Him, don't rely on our own finite, valley limited understanding, but acknowledge Him in every way, then he will show us the right door to pick. As I was reminding Him of His promise to us He reminded me of an area of I was refusing to acknowledge Him in. It was concerning a dress I thought I looked cute in and it needed the slit sewn up but I thought it wasn't that big of a deal. So I repented and as soon as I could I went and sewed the slit closed and within days, God revealed His will to us! Everyone will be faced with choices, some good, some bad, some best, and sometimes, multiple choices, which will you choose and how? The how will determine if you choose the very best choice God has for you!
Ask God to give you this wisdom. James 1:5 tells us He promised to give to each person liberally and he further went on to say that he won't upbraid us for asking for it! Meaning he won't say, "You stupid, I'm glad you finally ask. You are quite dumb!" God wants to give you all the tools you need to not only live for Him, love Him, and serve Him, but also be happy and have a fulfilled, joyful, Christian life that has eternal meaning!
