REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional is a reprint of Kate Moon’s blog originally posted on June 28, 2015.  Kate continues to serve the Lord in E. Asia. 

Food for Spiritual Thought for the Weekend

“Seeking Wisdom from the Right Place”

1 Kings 10:23

“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.  The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.  Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift – articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.”

Have you ever just wanted to talk to someone wise?  It seems like the people of Solomon’s day did – enough to make long journeys, bringing caravans of gifts.  They prized wisdom.  Is there an example who we can be challenged by today?

Often in the course of life, we come to points where we simply need wisdom from above.  When facing big decisions, we can try to list the pros and cons of taking this course or that one, looking at the situation from all possible angles.  When we have difficulties in our relationships with others, we wonder what it is that we did wrong: do we need to change or does the other person; do we need to keep giving it a chance or make the hard choice to keep our distance.  But as much as we try to think through problems to figure out the best solution, at the end of the day, we still find ourselves not really knowing what to do.  

As believers, our great advantage is that we can take these matters to God in prayer, listen for his “voice,” read His word, and seek His wisdom.  And one of the ways God grants us His wisdom is through the community of believers, by giving us wise people among us, by even granting some in the body of Christ the spiritual gift of the word of wisdom (1 Cor 12:8) for the common good.  Sometimes we can err on the side of seeking people’s help first before seeking God because it is easier to talk to someone than to wrestle with God in prayer.  But sometimes, we need to reach out to someone older and wiser, to seek a mentor, to seek building relationships with people who can speak into our lives, who can share God’s wisdom with us.  Sometimes, building those relationships costs us – time, energy, effort.  Taking a long drive to meet up with someone.  Making time on a precious weekend when we could be out with friends, watching T.V., or simply just sleeping in.  Are we willing?

In the community of Christ, we have people available to us who are willing to share God’s wisdom with us, whether through a message given during a Sunday service, in the counseling office, or over a casual meal.  We don’t have to figure out all life’s problems on our own.  For this, let’s be thankful today and take a lesson from these people of long ago, to be willing to go to some lengths to seek wisdom where it may be found.

Prayer:  Lord, give me wisdom.  Above all, give me more of You, Lord!  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 10