Let me summarize where we've come from. I’d like to read from 1 Kings 3:7-9, where King Solomon is asking the Lord for wisdom.
"Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart  to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

Solomon is asking the Lord for wisdom, and in doing so he's asking for a heart that can discern the difference between right and wrong. But here's the question: if Solomon had God's law, then why wouldn't he just apply God's law to everything? These things are right. These are wrong. The reason is because while wisdom is certainly knowing God's commands, it's more than that. Many of the decisions that we make are complex and greater than a simple binary choice. We found that wisdom includes insight, prudence, and understanding. One needs to understand the nuances and make necessary distinctions in life in order to make wise decisions. 

Let me give you an example. Let’s say, you have the opportunity to partner with an organization in Africa that is working to alleviate poverty. Does God care about poverty? Does the believer have a moral responsibility to address poverty in their life? The answer to both questions is yes. A simple rules-based system would make this an easy choice. But making it that easy ignores how very complex poverty is. The root of poverty and how poverty is perpetuated is complex enough, especially in Africa, that Westerners simply throwing money at it won’t solve it or even make a dent in it.. What if in choosing this partner, you are giving people in Africa an opportunity to become dependent on Western money for their help? 

I'm not saying that you shouldn't give or you should give. I'm saying that wisdom is not applying a hard and fast rule or the command from God, but it's knowing how to make distinctions and nuances so that you can apply the command. Many of the decisions that we make in life are fairly complex and rules alone don't seem to address that complexity. 

Gerhard von Rad's definition of wisdom was that wisdom is becoming skillful as it relates to the complexities that we find in life. It's not always clear from God's moral law how we're to decide so we need wisdom too. 

Here's a question I want to ask in closing: How would you decide between Godly wisdom and worldly wisdom? In James 3:13-17 we read, "Who is wise and understanding among you?
Let them show up by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

I'd love for you to go back through that passage and begin to note, or to journal, differences that you see between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom. What James is getting at is that there's a wisdom from above and it’s noticeably different from the wisdom from below. Find those distinctions. Then as you go through today and see where there is a decision to be made, I want you to pause before making it. I want you to apply what you're learning and say, “Lord, according to James 1:5, if I ask for wisdom, you will provide this wisdom. I want Godly wisdom.” That's your spiritual exercise today.

Prayer for Today
Father, the decisions that we make in life are really complex. It would be great if we could simply apply your moral commands to these decisions. Yet we find that these decisions are very complex. Give us wisdom today that would instill in us a Godly wisdom instead of a worldly wisdom. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.