Wisdom

THAT the wisdom of God is foolishness in the eyes of man is quite as true as the fact that the “wisdom” of man is foolish in the eyes of God. Yet thousands of people are trying to use the “wisdom of God” through the channels of the “wisdom of man.” This is impossible at the outset. Jesus found this out very early in life, and did not try anything quite so obviously futile.

For a long time after leaving “Egypt,” the human thought tries to fashion the Divine after its own design. Presently it leaves all and follows“me.” In other words, it comes by the way of God and not the way of man.

The old, trite, and hackneyed statements, which have been reeled off with such glib tongues until they have become little more than mockery, suddenly take on a glorious new meaning when you come by the way of God.

You have tried to come by the way of man and found yourself deep in a bog of relative thinking, from which there seems little escape. Still you ask of man what is best to do.

The command is, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” This must be taken literally if you expect to get anything higher than the advice of your own intelligence.

A radical quality enters into the life of the one who is coming by the way of God and is forsaking the wary of man.

You will note that the moment you ask for the wisdom of God it is given you, and there is no condemnation, upbraiding, nor any of the little human deceits which would naturally enter in from the standpoint of the “I-told-you-so” intellect of man.

Here is a clear case in point:

I received a letter which contained this paragraph:

“I am going to look for you so hard, you will just find yourself leaving everything, everybody and everywhere, and being right here.”

That is the way the human mind imagines the Power of God operates. There are thousands in metaphysics who are trying to demonstrate in the same fashion. Have you ever heard, “I am here, I am there, I ameverywhere”? Have you ever heard, “I go before you to prepare a place for you”? Do you realize that the Principle which you are seeking is right with you, and has the ability to embody itself the moment you recognize it?

“What went ye out for to see – a person or a Principle?”

If you go out to seek a principle and recognize its presence, it will embody itself immediately, and you will understand the profound quality of the Wisdom of God, in contradistinction to that of man. The man wisdom seeks a person or a certain thing. The Wisdom of God shows how the Spirit is with you always, and at all times, and embodies itself the moment you recognize it. It is a wonderful revelation. The moment you begin to come by the way of God, all the old trite sayings burst into fruition and become something real and tangible and not something to be made real and tangible.

In the case of the letter above quoted, the writer thought that by holding firmly to the personal outline which embodied the message she wanted to hear, she would draw that body with the message to a certain locality. Had she known that the “I am here” was present, it would have found ways and means of embodying itself and giving her all that she sought.

Coming by the way of God is a new process. We are beginning to “flee from man whose breath is in his nostrils” for a very good reason. His wisdom is foolishness and yet he will insist on trying to work out impossibilities with it.

The deep, fathomless Wisdom of God says such contrary things as this:

“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.

Many a Uriah Heep has tried the “humility” idea and found in the end it led to nothing. The human wisdom immediately thinks, “Well, if humility is all that is necessary to get rich, I can do that. I can be humble on the outside, at least until I get my riches!” And another hears that “the measure ye mete shall be measured to you again, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” So he gives with the idea of getting. “It is safer than investing in uncertain business.” And wisdom of this caliber finds that what it has given has been entirely lost. You cannot mix the Wisdom of God with the wisdom of man.

The Golden Rule is true and operative if it be of the “Wisdom of God,” but if it be man, with his silly intellect, trying to profit by the words of God, he will soon find it wholly impractical – yea, even worse than that. He will find himself an easy victim for others of his kind, using the “wisdom of man” in a more vicious way.

“Awake thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give thee light.”

Yet there stands the Wisdom, telling you exactly how to become rich and how to have honors and Life. What are you going to do about it? Are you returning as the proverbial dog to his “vomit,” shouting to God, “Money, money, money,” or “Riches, plenty, abundance,” and expecting a shower of gold to drop into your lap?

“Come apart from among them and be ye separate.” Be still for a little while and you will know the Presence, and will follow through with the Wisdom of God.

You cannot but keep this revelation a secret, for it is so deep and yet so simple that it will be taken away from you by the cunning of man.

“Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.”

The greedy human mind cannot conceive of any gladness which would exceed the getting of possessions. Once the Wisdom of God enters in, you see the gladness here referred to as not dependent on the increase of material things. The wisdom back of it all is a recognition of the Presence which makes it unnecessary to be excited about manifestation. In the “secret” place of understanding you know why you do not have to center your attention on the accumulation of things. It is wonderful !

You cannot be brought by “a way ye known not of” by the human wisdom. It cannot go by a way it does not know, and all the ways it has known of are impassable. What are you going to do? Make a way? Be still! “I am the way“; I need no pioneers to blaze a trail for Me. I make the rough places smooth and the crooked places straight. I make the desert to blossom as a rose, and cause fountains to spring forth in dry lands. I cause the harvest to come before the planting. I do not have to explain how this is possible to a “wisdom” which is so limited that it is foolishness.

Do you begin to see why the command, “Leave all and follow me,” is the opening door of attainment, wherein you find the all which you thought you left, plus the life-substance back of it?

All wonders come under the “Wisdom of God” and are utterly inexplicable to man. Far instance, “Ye shall decree a thing and it shall come to pass.” What can you decree that will come to pass with certainty? You must “knock on wood” every time you say anything good for fear it might not be true. Dare you to boldly and unflinchingly say that certain good is due to arrive, and will arrive in your life without fail next year? Will you preface it with the “God willing” or “I’m not bragging” or some other “charm formula? Seek within the recesses of your “temple” and find the “money changers” and the “dove sellers” hidden in the shadows – scourge them out of the Temple of the Living God.

“Get wisdom, get understanding; forget It not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.”

The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. It does not say the mouth of another, but the mouth of God. Do you hear?

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding,”

 

Walter C. Lanyon