Trusting God’s Wisdom in the Midst of Chaos

Acts 6:3: “Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.”

“Wisdom in the fullest sense belongs to God alone (Jb. 12:13ff.; Is. 31:2; Dn. 2:20–23). His wisdom is not only completeness of knowledge pervading every realm of life (Jb. 10:4; 26:6; Pr. 5:21; 15:3) but also ‘consists in his irresistible fulfillment of what he has in his mind’ (J. Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 1–2, p. 198). . . . God’s grace must reveal it if man is going to grasp it at all (Jb. 28:23, 28). Even wisdom derived from natural abilities or distilled from experience is a gracious gift because God’s creative activity makes such wisdom possible.” [1]

Chaos and God

Read Daniel 2:1-13.

Have you noticed any chaos in our world? Daniel teaches that we can trust our Big God to be in control. Can you imagine how your life might be different if you could really grasp the bigness of God?

Put yourself in Nebuchadnezzar’s shoes. What was his chaos—scary nightmares, impotent religion, and manipulative advisors? Have you ever awakened terribly troubled by a dream and you couldn’t remember what it was? Because you had such an uneasy feeling, you really did not want to remember it. But you wondered if your dream was telling you something.

Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was pounding. He called in all his advisors: the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers. These would be like consultants and psychologists today. They were highly educated. They were the gurus of that day. Some were even involved in black arts to interpret omens.

King Nebuchadnezzar was rightfully suspicious of his advisors. He accused them of trying to buy time and conspiring to mislead him. Maybe these enchanters and sorcerers were fake. Their final reply did not help matters. They said, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks!” (Daniel 2:10b). The king had confirmed that these guys did not have the power they claimed.

Maybe you have had the terrible experience of realizing that something you had believed was false. You counted on it. You thought it was solid and accurate, but it has proven to be fake, a lie, or a joke. It does not hold water.

The king went from angry to furious. He ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. While Nebuchadnezzar was a great king, self-control was not his strength. To be fair, most of us have been irrationally angry a few times and have made absolute decrees we later regretted. Instead, we should look at the one person above earth who can do anything—God.

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[1] Hubbard, D. A. “Wisdom.” Ed. D. R. W. Wood et al. New Bible Dictionary 1996: 1244. Print.