The GPS Bible
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach James 1:5
Wisdom – Don’t we just want God to tell us what to do next? Don’t we really want the Bible in GPS translation? “Turn right in 100 yards” becomes “Marry the girl in the blue dress standing by the fountain,” or “Take the second job offer you get on Wednesday.” Oh, and if you make a mistake by not paying attention, then God’s voice from the GPS Bible says, “You missed my direction. I am recalibrating. Please choose the third church on the east side of Maple Lane to attend this Sunday.”
Why are we so intent on having God’s GPS system for our lives? Part of the answer lies in the preoccupation we have with control and predictability. You see, we’re really very Greek in our thinking. We want certainty in our lives. We want to know what’s going to happen so that we can be fully prepared, control the circumstances and keep everything in order. Guess what? The world is broken. It just doesn’t work that way. And even if it did, I’m not so sure that God would allow you to get away with such immaturity.
Why is this persistent quest for certainty a sign of immaturity? The matter can be compared to a man teaching his son to drive. Day after day the father drove the car while his son sat in the passenger seat. The father explained every detail of driving, but the son never sat behind the wheel. When the day came for the son to take the driving test, the father said, “Now just sit next to me while I drive and pretend that you are doing what I am doing. That way you’ll be sure to pass.” Ridiculous, isn’t it? That’s just as ridiculous as it would be for us to expect God to make all the decisions in our lives while we sit in the passenger seat. Any good parent trains a child by slowly letting the child take responsibility for actions until, at last, the child is capable of operating as if the character of the parent were always present. That’s not the same as being on my own. God’s plan is to mold my character so that I act with His character in mind every time. To request that God hold my hand at every decision point and make the decision for me is to refuse to absorb His character. The GPS Bible is for infants, not spiritual adults.
The real Bible is filled with a certain kind of tension – a tension that is necessary for the development of true relationships. That’s what James means when he uses the Greek word sophia. He is not thinking about precise directions. He is thinking about the Hebrew word hokmah, found in Proverbs. It means attitude and behavior in alignment with God. In fact, Proverbs teaches us that God alone possesses wisdom and He gives it as His gift to men. There is no such thing as “worldly wisdom.” Anything except action aligned with God’s character is foolishness! James tells us that if we lack the character attributes of God in our living, we can come to the Father and ask Him to shape our lives so that we display who He is – and He will generously supply the circumstances that will bring about this transformation. He won’t reproach us for our previous misdirection. It is to His glory that we be conformed to His image.
Wisdom is the training process that allows God to put you behind the steering wheel. The Bible is a map, but it’s not a GPS. You must learn to read a map so that you can drive the road of life with the same perspective that God has, but that is not the same as asking Him to drive for you.
Topical Index: Wisdom
