Ask God for Wisdom and Believe

Mary Harmening
3 min readAug 2, 2022

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“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James‬ ‭1:5–6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Ask God for wisdom and believe, do not doubt or you will be tossed and turned!

I’m sure like many others, these past couple years I have found myself waxing and waning in my faith. And admittedly I can say I’ve had lots of personal experiences of that feeling of being tossed and turned because of it. Some days I stand firm believing God will heal, restore, and come through. Other days, I am just flat out sad for loss of relationships, among other disappointments. Sometimes it’s hard not to be filled with disbelief that God will work things out for good. I’ve always been a fixer. I’m the first to admit I’m wrong, and apologize even if maybe I’m not the one who is wrong. I don’t like things in disrepair. What I’m learning is that some things are just not mine to fix, especially people. None of us wants to be fixed by another human!

I can’t make someone forgive me, but what I can do is trust God and get my heart ready for the opportunity when His timing is perfect, not mine. When relationships are strained and grow distant, even though it hurts, we can either wallow in it or we can take care of our own hearts and use that time to focus on God and find gratitude in the smallest of things. This will prepare us for even richer relationships in the future.

We can choose to have faith that there’s a bigger reason to be cast out for a season so His work can be completed inside us. It’s just part of the journey and not the end! I have to believe that His word is true and that our lives, although messy at times, will be restored since He is in the mess with us.

I am also learning to have conviction in what He has put on our hearts to do and not waiver. No matter what. Even when it makes no sense to the human mind, and everything is just hard. He has a plan! It may not be mine! He knows best. It’s ok to have things undone, take longer than I want, and be seemingly hopeless. That’s when God shows up! And when He does, it’s so much better than if everything was easy! His timing is perfect and if I get it too early, it won’t work the best it can. Rushing things is not usually going to produce the best outcome we are hoping for. Good things take time.

I have asked God for wisdom. The scripture I have held onto is:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Don’t Give Up!

Do you have a friend, family members, children or parents you have lost a true connection with? Do you have a current circumstance that has your faith shaken and you are at the end of your rope? Ask God for wisdom and believe! He will reveal the perfect word for the season to hold onto and get you through! Don’t give up! He is with you.

Father, thank you for sustaining us, and giving us strength to walk through the hard stuff. Thank you that the hard stuff makes the good times all the more sweeter! Thank you for making my heart softer towards seeking Your wisdom for my life, and I pray that I may hear Your voice and Your Word to give me life and hope. Amen!

Illustrations by Haley Punjak

Edited by Rachel Harmening

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