Finding Wisdom in a Noisy World

This world is so busy.

It’s screaming for me to do “stuff.”

It’s telling me to go “that way.”

It notifies me to watch this YouTube video or read this post or buy this item “that we have saved just for you.”

Wisdom.

That’s what I need.

Wisdom to know which way to turn, what God wants me to do, how to live my life.

But how do we get this wisdom?

James 1:5 tells us that to have wisdom, we need to ask God for it.

Okay, I’ve asked God for wisdom many times, but how do I know what He says? How can I hear Him, especially in this world that is screaming so much “stuff” at me? I think we need to step back and see what else the Word says.

I was reading in my devotional this morning about how “personal holiness and humble confession cannot be separated.” ¹ God desires us to come to Him in humility and confession, to prepare our hearts before Him.

David shows us in Psalm 32 that we cannot hide our sin from the Lord. Of course, He already knows about it, but when we don’t openly confess it to Him, our mind, body, and soul become heavy with the sin, and our body wastes away (vs. 3-4). At that point, our heart is not ready to get wisdom from God.

But when we confess, God tells us in 1 John 1:9 that “…He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is all because of Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, and His resurrection, which broke the power of sin.

But what does this have to do with wisdom?

When we confess, we are humbling ourselves before the Lord. The noise of the world subsides. We are ready to hear Him.

And look what God says in Psalm 32:8 after David has confessed his sins to the LORD. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

He will give us His wisdom when we abide in Him through confession and humility.

What a promise!

Application

• Where in my life do I need to confess today so that my heart is ready to receive God's wisdom?

• Is there any noise that I need to silence so that I can hear His instruction better?

¹ Paul David Tripp, Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 55.