Claiming the Promises (6)

“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” Acts 7.22

Serve to bless
As Jesus consistently demonstrated during His earthly sojourn, one of the most effective ways we flow the blessings of God to others is by serving them, according to their needs.

This can get a little tricky, as you might imagine, because people and situations are different, and we are limited in the kinds of things we can do to help others. It takes a good bit of wisdom to discern the needs of others and to minister to those needs accordingly. Wisdom is simply the application, in everyday situations, of the grace and truth of God, such that others are blessed and God is glorified. Wisdom is skill in living by the plan and purposes of God. Since Jesus Christ is the very treasury of all wisdom (Col. 2.2, 3), the better we know Him, and the closer we stay to Him, the more likely it is we will have the wisdom we require to serve others with the blessings of God.

We can grow in the wisdom of God as we study His Word and rest in His Spirit to lead us in our daily lives. The Bible is full of practical insights concerning how to love our neighbors, and such insights lead us along the path of wisdom.

But the Bible is not the only source of wisdom for serving others. As part of the truth of God, the wisdom of God is “out there,” waiting for us to tap into it, especially as it relates to the circumstances and needs of the people to whom God sends us each day.

God’s wisdom in the world
We don’t know exactly what the “wisdom of the Egyptians” consisted of, but Stephen regarded it as having helped to prepare Moses for his calling in the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh. In the same way, Daniel and his friends submitted to certain wise tenets and practices to prepare for service to the Babylonian king. We can take a guess about some of these matters, all of which would have provided them with skill in serving the Lord in their peculiar social and cultural arenas. They had to learn the language of the people they were sent to serve, if only to be able to communicate with them on their terms. Undoubtedly, certain protocols of behavior – how things were “done” – also factored into their preparation for skillful service. There were traditions to learn, people to understand, as well as the various roles those people fulfilled, and ways of working and relating that were acceptable within their situations. In each case, Moses and Daniel mastered these matters of everyday wisdom, and this qualified them to serve effectively as God’s agents in their Personal Mission Fields.

If there was wisdom to be learned for working among Egyptians and Babylonians, we may also expect that there are ways of being, relating, working, presenting ourselves, conversing, and much more that constitute the accepted wisdom of our own situations, whether at home, in the community, at our work place, or in our school. The more familiar we are with these prescribed ways of being and working, and the better we observe them, the more wisdom we will have for serving others with the blessings of God.

Learning wisdom
Becoming a wise person begins with knowing God, meditating in His Word, and keeping our eyes on Jesus. These provide the platform of wisdom on which we may learn the ways of wisdom that relate to succeeding as the Lord’s servant with the people around us. We should expect to consult many different sources in our quest to discover the wisdom of God which He, by His common grace, has spread abroad in the world. What makes for wisdom in one context may not be applicable to another. For each situation of our lives, and for all the different people we encounter in those situations, we need to discover the wisdom of God that will allow us, like Moses and Daniel, to succeed as conduits of blessing to the people around us.

If we hope to claim the promise of God, that we might flow His blessings to the world, we will need to learn a good bit about how to communicate with our world, as well as how to serve the needs of people in the world. Learn the rules that govern your workplace. Improve your language and communications skills. Practice good listening skills – wisdom in listening to others. Do your work with excellence, and without grumbling or complaining. Learn as much as you can about getting around in your Personal Mission Field, and let the wisdom of God guide you as you reach out to bless others with His grace and truth.

Get wisdom – as much as you can, wherever you can, and as part of the blessing you seek from the Lord. Then put that wisdom to work, showing the grace and truth of King Jesus to everyone in your life.

For reflection
1.  What’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Why does wisdom matter?

2.  How can you know when you’re increasing in wisdom for serving others in your Personal Mission Field?

3.  Besides the Scriptures, what other sources might you consult to increase in wisdom for serving the Lord and blessing others?

Next steps – Preparation: Do you pray for wisdom? Solomon did (2 Chron. 1.7-12), but then he applied himself diligently to acquire the promised wisdom of God (cf. Eccl. 1.12, 13). What is your plan for growing in wisdom? Talk with a Christian friend about this matter.

T. M. Moore

This is part 4 of a 5-part series, Living toward the Promises. You can download this week’s study as a free PDF, suitable for personal or group use, by clicking here. You can learn more about living toward the promises of God by ordering a copy of the book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here).

We invite you to register for the free online course, One in Twelve: Introduction to Christian Worldview. In this course we provide a sweeping panorama of how life in the Kingdom of God unfolds in an age in flight from God such as ours. Set your own schedule and study at your own pace. Learn more, and register for One in Twelve, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.