God of Wisdom

"Hey, Genius!"

I turned to look because of course, she was trying to get my attention. I have a bit of a reputation for being smart, but also for being a problem solver - someone who can fix just about anything and knows who to turn it over to if I can't. 

I've had this reputation for most of my life. I was the smart kid. I was the gifted student. I was the one the teachers had to go out of their way to find assignments for because I finished the other ones in less than half the time it took anyone else. My whole life, I have listened to other persons tell me how smart I am; I have listened to them recommend me to others who have problems that need solving; I have heard them tell me I can do anything I put my mind to. 

But I cannot for the life of me (literally?) figure out God. 

I have some good ideas. There are some things that I know for certain. There are some things that I am absolutely sure of. There are some things He has shown me and proven to me over the years, some things He has whispered in my ear, some things He has laid on my heart. I have enough knowledge - bolstered by enough faith - to get me through most of the time. 

But every time I think I have Him figured out, He proves to me that I don't. 

As soon as I feel confident in saying that I know how God is working, one door closes and the curtains on the window start blowing a little bit. As soon as I know that everything is trending in a Godward direction, all of a sudden, we make a hard turn toward something else...even though I might know that God is still leading. 

Isaiah tells us that God confuses even the wise (44:25), and what's funny about that is that it doesn't matter how smart or wise I am, as soon as I think I might be one of those wise men, God confuses me, and all of a sudden, I know how unwise I truly am. 

(Is that a sign of true wisdom?) 

Yet, this is what faith is. It's a way of living that requires knowing enough to believe, enough to trust, but not knowing enough to predict or to expect or to be arrogant about anything. It requires enough knowledge to abide and to rest and to love and to be loved, to be certain of some things, but never really to know. Faith requires trust; otherwise, it is confidence. (And not confident assurance.) 

Without an element of trust, faith rests on itself. It rests on its own understanding. It puts itself in the position of authority because it knows - it just knows, and it is so certain about it that it no longer even requires God at all. It might still give Him credit, if there's love in the person's heart, but it doesn't really depend on Him. 

Trust keeps us depending on Him. And we can only trust, in faith, what we cannot know by wisdom. 

So He keeps us guessing, at least a little. 

Even us geniuses.