“28 See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt. 6:28-34)
It’s always a struggle, I find: having enough faith, whilst still exhibiting prudent wisdom. The more I walk through life, meeting various people who believe in Jesus, I find almost two categories entirely, on complete opposite ends of the spectrum: those that appear to exhibit absurd faith, beyond all logic and sound wisdom; and those that appear to be wise sages, but without the willingness to take the slightest leap of faith. There, of course, are quite a number that fall on any point along this spectrum, but very few that seem to be balanced in the middle. Perhaps this is because of our human nature to dichotomize issues until we’re black and blue in the face.
I know for myself, depending on the situation, I can be far on the faith end in one decision, while seeming to completely contradict myself in another situation, by deciding purely based on wisdom alone. And perhaps this is because I have certain areas in my life where I trust God less and tend to use logic and wisdom, while other areas I do trust God and are more prone to decide based on faith. Once more, I find myself struggling again with this faith vs. wisdom dichotomy.
It’s the classic situation: a recent college graduate, who holds a degree, but has no job. With only enough money to get by for the next couple months, of course I’m getting desperate to find a job that will give me some sort of security and help me start paying off my student loans. There is something very wise in getting a job — especially a contract job if possible— that will pay the bills and give me stability for a certain length of time. There is something wise in paying off my student loans as quick as possible.
But does that leave any room for faith?
As much as I love working with the Stoplight Approach, and would love to be able to commit a long period of time with the organization, there is currently no funding (though we are persistently looking at all possible options for funding). No funding = No money. No money = No paying off student loans.
Not paying off student loans = Not wise.
Working for the Stoplight Approach = Lots of faith.
So what do I do? Do I go the supposed safe route and choose wisdom, or do I choose the apparent unsafe journey and choose faith?
Does this dichotomy even exist?
I don’t mean to be cliché, but I honestly believe the answer to my situation is God. Now I don’t mean God as a nice 'fix-all' answer. I legit mean God as the God who is above all, who transcends all, who is in control of all (even when it doesn’t seem like it), who is supreme over all, who is sovereign over all. I’m talking about the God who I can trust.
With everything.
Yes, I do believe that some decisions take more faith than wisdom, and others that take more wisdom and common sense than faith; but I think I’ve been looking only at these two, rather than looking at the God who binds both together. I still don’t quite know what this looks like. I wish I did. But what I do know is that money is not and cannot ever be my source of security and stability. Only my God alone can be that for me. Not a job. Not finances.
Only God.
Of course, God uses things like cashflow (something that can fade away in an instant) to provide some security, but more importantly, it’s to provide for my needs. God knows what I need, and He provides for me. Every. Single. Day.
He knows my present. He provides. He knows my future. He will provide.
It’s all a matter of trusting Him and listening to what He wants me to do with my life — not just in a general sense, but also in my daily life, living on mission for His glory and His fame. Can God use wisdom to provide? Definitely. But what kind of wisdom is it: the world’s, or is it God’s?
"19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight."
Whatever the case, I’m learning not to look to wisdom to provide for my needs. I’m learning not to look to faith to provide for my needs. I’m learning to look to God to provide for them.
Every. Last. One.
I may fail a lot of the times, but I pray that I never stop returning to seeking first His Kingdom, instead of trying to build my own secure one on this earth.
What are you looking towards?