Unka Glen

holyhotnessbypvi asked: Dear Unka, I would like to approach your citadel of wisdom with the following: Where do I draw the line between faith and wisdom? For example: I’m ready to leave the mall when my car refuses to start. My first instinct is to pray and believe that God will make the car start. If the car still won’t start, does that mean I should use common sense and just call AAA? Thanks & God bless! [edited for length]

Unka Glen answered: Fantastic question, because a lot of people get this wrong without realizing it. You see, for some people, they think the more they believe, the better a Christian they are. Others are so focused on gaining wisdom, they never find the time to truly act on it. 

To head in the right direction on this, let’s start here: you’re not meant to have faith in anything and everything, you’re meant to have faith that God will do what He says He’s going to do. God says that He goes ahead of you to prepare a place for you in His house (John 14:3), He says He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and if He tells you that He’s gonna start your car, it’s gonna start.

And so that’s where wisdom comes in, knowing what God wants to do with you, and with the people around you. Once you know that, then you should have faith that God will act on His own will and desires, in His own time. Let’s say you know, from the Lord, that you need to work on your bad attitude, then suddenly the car doesn’t start, well, it doesn’t take a whole lot of wisdom to see that this is a test of your attitude. 

In this instance, God wants you to change, rather than expecting the circumstances to change. And who knows, if you call AAA with that positive attitude you’ve been working on, maybe they’ll send an extra hot guy to come out and fix it, and he’s working on it with all his muscles, and well, you get the picture. Now all of a sudden you have a real good attitude.

So rather than thinking of drawing a line between faith and wisdom, think of it as your left foot and right foot. First take a step of gaining wisdom, then take a step in faith that God will do what this wisdom tells you He’s going to do. Right, left, right, left.

If you keep on gaining wisdom, but never step out in faith, you never get anywhere, you just end up going in circles. Likewise, if you take a step of faith, without knowing where God wants you to take it, you’re never going to get where you’re meant to go, and worse, you’ll be waiting around for God to do something He never said He’d do. 

As with many things in your walk, it’s about balance.