Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Many secularists directly contradict this verse, claiming that wisdom and knowledge come from man. Frankly, that’s a pathetic stance, because it’s part of elevating people to divinity, when our mortality and fallibility are so obvious. It’s not at all that we are to fail to use the minds we have been given, but rather that we must maintain a fundamental humility if we are to have any real hope at all. It doesn’t take much historical research to come up with countless examples of “scientific consensus” being totally wrong! Secularists are quick to point out times when the Church stood against demonstrable scientific fact, particularly in such things as astronomy/cosmology, but those are simply demonstrations of the reality that church leaders are human too. I think the whole issue here is the matter of humility, of recognizing that we are finite and weak, and listening to the One who is neither of those things. Sometimes those listening to God and receiving wisdom and knowledge from Him are at odds with the rest of society, and that can be a difficult position indeed. However, true intellectual honesty can take no other position than to say the Creator knows His creation far better than any mere human being ever could, so He is the ultimate resource.

I grew up in a family that was both intellectually rigorous and grounded in faith. What a privilege and blessing! My father received his PhD at age 23, but he knew that this verse was true. I have numbers of scientists, scholars, and clerics among my relatives. Some of them acknowledge the truth of this verse more than others! I have had a real struggle with intellectual pride myself, which shows how slow I’ve been to really grasp the truth in this verse. It was a major breakthrough for me, not so many years ago, when it really penetrated that God’s smart and I’m not. Up until that point I had felt that God was much smarter than I was, but still I thought we were somewhere on the same scale. Wrong. There were numbers of things I couldn’t understand at all until I accepted that on my own I never could understand them; they had to be received from God. He has been teaching me more and more in recent weeks and months, and I’m grateful. All of this connects closely with truth that comes out very shortly after this verse: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) It is as I do that, that He gives me the wisdom and knowledge I need.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I need such reminders all too often! Help me make full use of all You have given me, but never think for a moment that it originates with me. Help me do Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!