Can a person be too smart?

Most of us think that intelligence is a good thing. Those who lack it struggle with life. Those who have an above average IQ may not, but they are at a disadvantage. For instance, can be too easy to assume that knowing God is not important.

I grew up with praise for good marks in school and a strong emphasis on being smart. Medals and awards did not lessen my quest to always be learning. However, the negatives outweigh the positives. For one thing, my class mates expected achievement and if I didn’t make it, they ridiculed me. This soon became my value system; I had to be excellent in school and was driven to serious study so that I would feel accepted.

After being a Christian for decades, I realize a large part of God’s training has been to show me that I am not as smart as I thought and that being without knowledge is an advantage. In the wisdom of God, He wants His people to realize that He is the source of wisdom and knowledge, not we ourselves, our IQ or our education:

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

This verse and others like it reveal that God reveals wisdom and understanding to those who are not stuck on their own brain power.

“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–29)

How foolish to boast about intellect before Almighty God. When He spoke to Job, His first question was: “Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” (Job 40:9) Of course no one is like God who knows all things, including the number of hairs on my head! (Matthew 10:30)

The wisdom to live with grace and power comes from God. He not only created us but gave us an “owner’s manual” that gives us true spiritual life and instruction on how to live it.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7)

By reading the Word of God He has shown me that, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.” (John 3:27)

As Tozer says, “Divine truth is of the nature of the Holy Spirit, and for that reason it can be received only by spiritual revelation.” None of the wisdom of God is available to the simple or to the genius unless the Holy Spirit reveals it. This is one reason why John wrote, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Unless I decrease in thinking of myself above what I ought to think, Jesus and His great wisdom will not increase in my life.

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36)

^^^^^^^^^^^

Oh Jesus, I’ve been so slow to learn that it is not only okay to be of a simple-mind but this also gives me a distinct advantage — You reveal things to me that I could never figure out by my own reasoning. Thank You. May the wisdom You grant always be credited to the One who gave it. May I glorify You forever!

God’s abundant provision…

A new course starts Monday so to get a head start, I began some of the required reading. One asked that I read the story of Joseph in one sitting, Genesis 37 to 50. Two times as I read, I wept uncontrollably, amazed all over again at the mercy and power of God as He used the injustices that happened to Joseph for good. After being sold into slavery by his brothers, and eventually saving their lives, he said,

Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones… (Genesis 50:18–21)

Today’s devotional is about the grace of God that satisfies His people far beyond our expectations and certainly beyond what we deserve. As the Israelites wandered through the wilderness (and as I wander through life), He supplies all that we need. I am in awe.

He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. (Psalm 78:15–16)

At the beginning of the year, knowing I would be reading and studying theology, I abandoned my usual practice of reading the Bible through during the year. That was not a good idea. It is the source of God’s abundance, His answers and help for all issues and problems. Those who consider it an ancient and irrelevant book have no idea how intensely practical the Bible addresses the stress of modern life.

I belong to a Christian book club and we are reading excellent and edifying books, but nothing can touch and heal my heart like the Word of God. There is no problem, no challenge, no frustration, no sorrow that the Bible misses. It meets every need and never with just a small sip. Instead of shallow waters, God’s Word provides a big gulp, a drink as if from the ocean depths, water that flows like rivers, even water from the Rock, which is Christ.

Its pages are not filled with nice sounding platitudes, or pithy sayings about how to live. Instead, it greatly affirms God’s everlasting love and addresses the greatest needs in human life. There are no shallow or unhelpful guilt trips about my sin either, or do-it-yourself recommendations to fix it. Instead, God offers the amazing story of a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. After all my ideas and plans dry up and my sin remains, God gives me a drink from the Rock, a drink as abundant as the seas.

And He surprises me. I might go looking for answers, but His answer is never what I assume. I didn’t even know that I needed a strong reminder of His power to use tragedy for good until I read the story of Joseph and was so deeply touched and strengthened in my faith.

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)

God’s words are often simple, tender, full of love, but they are also deep and strong, searching my heart and exposing all that needs light and healing. There are people whose words sound good, but their lives do not match. There are people who have little to say and offer even less in their character. But Jesus was never like that. No matter how people  responded to His words, behind those words is the God-man, deeper and unfathomably more than any mind can grasp. He is the Living Word of God and His words will live even when heaven and earth have passed away.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

I can drink all of a cup or read all of a book, but I cannot drain dry a spring fed from the depths. Because the Word of God flows from the depths of this God who became a man, those words are powerful and eternal. They save and strengthen my heart and draw me back again and again for more of their life-lifting, soul-quenching power.

I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for You have exalted above all things Your name and Your Word. (Psalm 138:2)