The future is the sum total of all the choices that are made in the present and in the past. Fortunately, that sum total includes the choices made by God. A significant aspect of wisdom is having a future orientation. Wisdom gives us a perspective that always looks toward the future from the present and always looks from the future to the present.
From the vantage point of the fool, the world appears to exist in isolated units. The connection between the absentee father and the promiscuous daughter remains undetected. The relationship between bitterness toward our parents and coldness toward our children is unperceived. The repercussions of extramarital infidelity is never linked to premarital promiscuity. Debt remains unconnected to greed; violence remains unconnected to hate; the loss of hope remains unconnected from the loss of faith.
Wisdom sees everything in life as interconnected. Wisdom does not allow us to stand apart from the rest of the world. Wisdom sees all of life through relationships – our relationships to God, to others, to nature, and more. It is recognizing that our best selves can only be discovered when we consider others above ourselves.
Over the generations, wisdom has become more and more about ideas than living. Philosophy is literally the love of wisdom, but little of wisdom’s original essence is left in that discipline. It is so much easier to escape to Walden Pond and contemplate the meaning of life than it is to return from it and really live. Wisdom frees us from living disconnected lives. Wisdom frees us from superstitions that constrain us and broken relationships that cripple us.
Wisdom transforms the way we see reality. It sees no distinction between the physical and the spiritual. God created the material universe, and He declared it good. Even in a fallen world, wisdom sees the good that will come through choices made. This distinct view of reality known as wisdom is nothing less than seeing life from God’s vantage point. The epicenter of all wisdom is God Himself.
The Scriptures remind us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Then what exactly does this mean? When we fear God, we fear nothing else. It is only in the fear of God that we find ourselves free from the fear of death, of failure, and of all the other fears that bind us.
When the fear of God is absent from our lives, we become slaves to lesser fears, and it is these fears that become the boundaries of our lives. When we fear God, we are subject only to Him. We align ourselves to love and truth. We are never afraid to love or forgive when we fear God. We are never afraid to face the truth or speak the truth when we fear God. We live with a calm assurance that in all these things God finds great pleasure.
The fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom, for only in this place are we forced to face ourselves and see ourselves for who we really are. When we are followers of Jesus Christ, we are committed to follow the truth wherever it leads us. This fear of God frees us to risk, to fail, to dream, and to attempt great things.
When we fear God, we understand that we have come to Him in a condition of sinfulness. We know God as not only a God of holiness but also a God of infinite compassion. We live with the knowledge of His grace. We bask in the promise that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" [1 John 1:9].
It is only in the fear of God that we are truly free. We see God for who He really is. We see ourselves for who we really are. We understand the condition of the world in which we live. And we are enlightened to see a world, or dare I say, a kingdom, that is to come. Wisdom understands the heart of God. The woman of wisdom, that man who is wise, such people embrace that heart and live by it. Only here are we truly free.
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