Start Your Day with Wisdom: A Morning Bible Verse and Reflection

the sun rose this morning at 06:03 just like it did yesterday and just like it will tomorrow in our last time together we reflected on psalm one eighteen and the idea that this day is a gift made by god for us to rejoice in but sometimes that gift of a day comes with questions we don't know how to answer it comes with challenges we don't feel equipped to handle what then the book of james offers a path it's a short practical guide for living out our faith and in the very first chapter he gives this instruction james chapter one verse five if any of you lacks wisdom you should ask god who gives generously to

all without finding fault and it will be given to you let's sit with that for a moment there are three parts to this promise and each one has something to say about the day ahead of you first there's the condition if any of you lacks wisdom notice it doesn't say if you are a bad person or if you have failed it just says if you lack wisdom this is one of the most honest statements in the whole bible about being human we all have blind spots we all face forks in the road where the right path is not clear we have conversations we don't know how to start we have problems we don't know how

to solve here's what that means for you today when you feel that uncertainty that sense of i just don't know what to do here that is not a sign of weakness it's not a spiritual failure it is simply the condition of being human and for the person of faith that feeling is an invitation it's the starting line so what do we do when we get there that's the second part the action you should ask god it's so simple we can almost miss it the instruction isn't to try harder it's not to worry more it's not even to immediately go get five different opinions the first move the primary response is to ask to turn to

the source of wisdom itself this requires a little bit of quiet a little bit of stillness it means pausing before you react it means admitting first to yourself and then to god i am at my limit here i need your help here's what that means for your day whether you're in a meeting in a tough conversation with your family or just sitting in your car feeling overwhelmed the practice is the same a quiet internal prayer god show me the wise path here give me the words to say grant me your perspective the act of asking changes things it reorients your heart before you even get an answer and that brings us to the most beautiful

part of this verse the character of the one we are asking god gives generously to all without finding fault this is so important the promise isn't just that god has wisdom it's about how he gives it generously lavishly not reluctantly not with a sigh as if we're bothering him and the second phrase is the one that can heal a lot of old wounds without finding fault he doesn't say well you should have known this already he doesn't say if you hadn't made that mistake three years ago you wouldn't be in this mess he doesn't criticize you for asking he just gives this means you can come to him honestly you can bring your confusion your frustration your fear you don't have to pretend you have it all together in fact the whole process starts by admitting you don't so as you step into this day hold on to that

promise you don't have to generate all the wisdom you need from your own resources you don't have to have every answer your only job is to recognize when you need help and then to ask for it the question isn't whether you'll need wisdom today you will the only question is whether you'll ask because the giver is already waiting with open hands