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Matthew 2:1 NLT

'Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem.'

One year closes and a new one beckons. It’s a valuable time for reflection on where I’ve been and where I’m headed as the age of the world clicks on a notch.

The Magi seek Jesus, men described as learned and wise. I can identify with learned, one who acquires great knowledge through study. This reflects my own journey, from when my parents impressed on me the importance of education, through to my successful completion of a PhD. Yet, this learned state, while having proved enjoyable, has not created wisdom. As I reflect on my past I can identify many a stupid decision, often well-articulated but born of emotion over common sense. And yet I wonder if it is not better to let heart rule over mind. So many decisions that are purely rational are cold and lack empathy in their execution. They are correct logically, yet devastating when implemented. The law of unintended consequences is the nightmare for politician and Christian leader alike.

Wisdom, however, suggests a circumspection, perception and insight beyond mere knowledge. The two are related yet the one can never give rise to the other. The Magi required the knowledge to read the skies and identify the star. They needed wisdom to follow it. As I reflect on the year past, I too need knowledge to consider events, experiences and context. Yet I need wisdom to perceive the learning from those events. For God was equally in each apparent success and keenly felt failure; in the joy, the pain and the regrets. While I can create a list of past experience, only by appealing to God’s wise counsel and developing my own spiritual intuition, the work of years and not hours, can I discern the meaning God has hidden within each and every experience I reflect upon. As I wrestle with this task I find the kernel of God’s truth and so develop my own godly wisdom for the road ahead.

QUESTION: What has God taught you in the year that has passed?

PRAYER: Loving Father, thank you for your presence, guidance and grace to your people and to me in this past year.