Wisdom from Above

In the 1800s, Jean-Baptist Vianney began pastoring in the village of Ars-en-Dombes, in France. Though he longed for a good education, the turmoil of the French Revolution, coupled with his poverty, had kept him from school. So he asked God for wisdom and plunged into his work.

Vianney proved exceptionally brilliant in helping people with their problems. He seemed able to cut through the red tape of the heart, going straight toward needed solutions. "Your problems do not lie in the matters you have mentioned," he often said, "but in another area entirely." People traveled many miles for his sermons, and he spent eighteen hours a day in counseling. Unable to receive a formal education, Jean-Baptist Vianney leaned on wisdom from above. And the wisdom from above is "pure . . . peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits . . ." (James 3:17).

Regardless of your education - or lack of it - ask God each day for the wisdom to govern life correctly and to help others do the same. If you're facing a major decision, ask Him for wisdom, and then trust Him to give it. Have confidence in decisions prayerfully made.