When our granddaughter Taylor was two years old, she decided that she was fed up with the rules at home and that she would prefer to stay for awhile at her Grandma Sue’s house. (I’m Grandma Sue, by the way.) This was nap time on a warm day, so she was wearing just a diaper and a T-shirt. To complete her ensemble, she pulled on a pair of boots and put on a hat. Her mama found her standing under the key rack by the back door, trying to jump high enough to snag the car keys.
The conversation went something like this:
“Taylor, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to drive to Grandma Sue’s house.”
“But honey, you don’t know how to drive.”
“I do too!” To illustrate her point, Taylor said, “The car is outside. Be careful with the car.”
You know what they say. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing! Obviously, Taylor’s trip ended right there at the backdoor. When our daughter-in-law related this conversation to my husband and me, we had to laugh. But in the years since, I’ve found myself — more often than I’d like to admit — in a similar conversation with my heavenly Father.
“Sue, what are you doing?”
“Oh, well, umm, I’m just tired of the way the universe is run, and I think I’ll change the orbit of Mars…”
Okay, I’m exaggerating, but there are so many times that I get into a situation far beyond my abilities and far beyond what God wants in my life at that time. When I fail spectacularly, I finally turn to the Lord and ask for wisdom.
I hope you’re not like me. I hope you ask before you leap, but whether you do or don’t, God has given us great advice in the book of James, chapter 1, verse 5. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” I’m praying that I remember that verse the next time I reach for something beyond my abilities to handle.
Wisdom. What a great gift. Even better, we have a heavenly Father who wants to give us that wisdom, and all we have to do is ask.