ICS Daily Devotions
Reasoning and Rationalism
James 1:5-8(NKJV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The church had gone through many trials throughout history, but the most challenging time was during the enlightenment period in the eighteenth-century. Human reasoning was enthroned and man became the measure of all things, giving rise to rationalism (The Lutheran Church in Colonial America by LP Qualben). There was an onslaught of rationalism and skepticism among the intellectuals. This is the reason why some of us struggle in this teaching on receiving wisdom from God! Pride hinders us from receiving. It is not God who does not want to impart His wisdom upon us since He is the one challenging us to pray for it. There is a great divide between those who begin with man and his reason and experience, and those who begin with God and His revelation. The latter includes being led by the Holy Spirit and how God imparts His wisdom to us today.
This does not mean that we should throw away our thoughts, belittle intellectualism but rather we should renew our minds with the word of God so that we will not be hindered by the leading of the Holy Spirit. It will help us not to reject or over process the wisdom that comes from God. It will help us to believe in faith that we will receive the wisdom without having any doubts in our minds. We have a finite mind but we worship an infinite God! We have been trained to reason, think logically, rationally and skeptically and therefore, we tend to shut off whenever something is beyond our logic or reasoning. Anything that is illogical or experiential but biblical will be scorned at and termed as emotionalism. It is especially true when it has to do with God and the supernatural realm that He reigns supreme. This is something that we need to overcome when it involves being led by the Holy Spirit because we are being led in our heart/spirit man before it is being processed by our mind. The leading of the Holy Spirit WILL NEVER CONTRADICT THE WORD OF GOD ESPECIALLY IN VALUES AND PRINCIPLES.
Therefore, if we receive something that is beyond our abilities and it is extremely creative but possible in God, then what we need to do is to pull down the stronghold in our mind and bring it into subjection to the Lordship of Jesus Christ! We need to be open to receive from Him so that we can apply the practical wisdom that He has tailored for each of us!
Sermon Series: Earthly or Heavenly Wisdom
