[Lee Grzywinski]

Hello faithful readers!

Isn’t this book excellent?

Chapters 9 and 10 are the most practical chapters yet – they really bring knowing about God and knowing God together. “Wisdom is…the practical side of moral goodness.” Looking to God in His infinite wisdom helps us navigate this life. Like Abraham, living out God’s wise will is how we “learn the practice of living in God’s presence.” It is how He brings us “to a state in which we please Him entirely and praise Him adequately,” and how He becomes “all in all” to us.

This also helps us understand our own lives in light of the lives of those written about in the Old and New Testaments. As Packer says, “the same wisdom which ordered the paths which God’s saints trod in Bible times orders the Christian’s life today.” And this is, of course, as we saw in Chapter 7, because the God Who dealt with them is the same God Who deals with us. The same wise God!

And God imparts this wisdom to us! I love that Packer’s idea of wisdom in us consists not only of holding God in reverence and awe, but also of diligently seeking Him and true wisdom in His Word. And he is right in that we cannot think wisdom means we will understand the “why” of what God does, but that it will change the way we live — that is, with God more and more at the forefront of our focus. I think this is where we confuse knowing God and knowing things about God. Both are necessary, but knowing God is how we live in light of what we know about Him. Living in wisdom and accepting His will no matter what it means is truly knowing Christ in His suffering. “God’s work of giving wisdom is a means to His chosen end of restoring and perfecting the relationship between Himself and human beings [us!] for which He made them.” It is “a wisdom that will bind us to Himself, a wisdom that will find expression in a spirit of faith and a life of faithfulness.”

[Theresa]

Wow there was so much packed into these 2 chapters! I liked that the author defined what God’s wisdom is but also what it is not. It was interesting to read about the different examples of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph and watch the author go into detail about how God’s wisdom worked in each of their lives to bring them to a better place according to His purpose. And that He dealt with each one differently according to what they needed. I appreciated the author’s illustrations reminding us not to get caught up in the whys. It reminds me that even when I don’t understand what is happening in my life (or why) that God is not surprised or without a plan. That in His wisdom, He not only sees the bigger picture but is working all things for my good because God’s wisdom far outweighs mine. And that gives me great comfort when unforeseen trials or suffering happens in my life. I remind myself of that and I choose to trust God. I’m thankful we worship and serve such a wise and powerful God.

[Lynne Mazza-Hilway]

Packer illustrates God’s consistent omnipotent wisdom as He continues to order the lives of His people today, teaching us the practices of living in His presence, resting in His revealed will and how to live for Him instead of the world, just as He taught Abraham. God gave him a new meekness, courage, dignity and patience, helping him to become a man of prayer, an intercessor for others. God humbled Jacob to teach him the “required sense of impotent helplessness and hopelessness without Him. The wisdom of God orders the events of a human life for a double purpose: the individual’s own personal sanctification and service in the life of the people of God.” We can ultimately see God’s sovereignty and hand in all that happens in our lives.

“Wisdom will not go with comforting illusions, false sentiment, or the use of rose-colored glasses; this deep-seated, sin-bred unrealism is one reason why there is so little wisdom among us.” I love Packer’s simple description of the Book of Ecclesiastes which he says is a sermon teaching us how to apply God’s wisdom to our lives. The sermon is a beautiful balance between “condemning flippancy yet has no time for superspirituality.” Looking forward to re-reading this sermon with a deeper perspective.

[Matt Aceino]

Sorry for being M.I. A for 7&8 but we feast on all your thoughts and observations. This book is challenging but not as in difficulty but in self examining in light of His wisdom. “But in God boundless wisdom and endless power are united (like the hypo static Union), and this makes him utterly worthy of our fullest trust” That is peace! We don’t know what he may be doing in and through our lives but we can trust his good character and believe to the point that we actually “fear not”.That is truest wisdom. God only wise.
God allows us to glean his grace through the lives of these bible characters seeing his faithfulness not only to them but also to his own promises to bring about his purposed end. He wins/we win!
Add to this freedom from all time and space and no changes. Incommunicable WOW! Yet he allows us to participate in SOME of his attributes. Being renewed!
We try to use wisdom to figure out what God is doing or asking during times of stress, depression etc but without clear answers yet God knows and continues toward our good. Our best position is to be in the scriptures.
Vanity of vanities?? We quest understanding but from what viewpoint? Ours? God knows what he is doing and does ALL things well.
Faith and faithfulness. Don’t quit God because he never quits us. God is at work

[Nayara Jordan]

What a gift it is that God chooses to impart his wisdom to us, thereby allowing us to know him more and in a deeper way. That he’s given us his word is such a gift, and I know I take it and the wisdom it offers for granted.

I love the connection to Ecclesiastes. At the end of the day, all wisdom should lead us back to acknowledge that God is Wisdom, and his wisdom and eternal plan remains above what we can ever comprehend. We can rest in Him and surrender knowing that we can’t know all, and God will continue to reveal himself and his wisdom in time as we seek him.

[Author]

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