Wisdom We Need

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

I'm Gwen Collier and I'm reading a piece I wrote today entitled, Wisdom We Need. In his monumental book, The Great Influenza, John M. Berry recounts the story of the 1918 flu epidemic. Berry reveals how health officials, rather than being caught off guard, anticipated a massive outbreak. They feared that World War I, with hundreds of thousands of troops crammed into trenches and moving across borders, would unleash new viruses. But this knowledge was useless to stop the devastation. Powerful leaders beating the drums of war rushed toward violence.

And epidemiologists estimate that 50 million people died in the epidemic, adding to the roughly 20 million killed in the war's carnage. We've proven over and again that our human knowledge will never be enough to rescue us from evil. Though we've amassed immense knowledge and present remarkable insights, we still can't stop the pain we inflict on one another. We can't halt the way of the wicked, this foolish, repetitive path that leads to deep darkness.

Despite our best knowledge, we really have no idea what makes us stumble. That's why we must get wisdom, get understanding. Wisdom teaches us what to do with knowledge. And true wisdom, this wisdom we desperately require, comes from God. Our knowledge always falls short, but His wisdom provides what we need.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Proverbs 4, verses 10 to 19. Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

When you walk, your steps will not be hampered. When you run, you will not stumble. Hold onto instruction. Do not let it go. Guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it.

Do not travel on it. Turn from it and go on your way, for they cannot rest until they do evil. They are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter to the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness.

They do not know what makes them stumble. Let's pray. Dear God, we wrestle with pride, and we've discovered that our human knowledge can never save us. Please teach us your truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.