This week’s Torah portion contains a couple of well-known Bible Stories. But the one I’d like to look at today is Joseph and the dreams of his youth in Genesis 37.
Besides being the favored son, having been Rachel’s firstborn, Joseph grew up privileged among his brothers. Joseph was a brightly shining star in his father’s eyes. But it wasn’t just Jacob’s favor that made Joseph special. It was God’s favor too.
God poured out a prophetic gift on Joseph that ended up causing a lot of drama among the family. It made Joseph’s relationship with his brothers even worse! And any time Joseph tried to shine bright to impress his family, it did just the opposite. If you’ve heard Joseph’s story before, you know that his shiny, God-given gift ended up saving thousands of lives amidst a terrible famine. But before Joseph became a hero, he had to learn how to carefully direct the light God had blessed him with as to not blind people or push them away from hearing God’s words through him. Call it a “dimmer switch”, of sorts! Little did he know that it would take decades to learn how to do it.
Shining Bright
If we look ahead a few hundred years, we are introduced to another youth whose light shone brightly and caused some drama: Yeshua (Jesus)! Obviously, Yeshua had divine knowledge from His Heavenly Father, but we know even Yeshua’s own parents found Him in the Temple, dazzling the teachers and scholars with His Knowledge. But at just 12 years old, Yeshua had something that Joseph didn’t learn until far into adulthood: wisdom.
Throughout Yeshua’s three years of ministry, the Gospels tell us that He spoke differently to different kinds of people. His words to the crowds were different than those to His disciples. His teachings to the Torah scholars were different than those to the lepers. Yeshua knew exactly how to direct His light in order to bring people closer to God, regardless of what age He was. He had an “automatic brightness setting” that made it easier for those around Him to see His Father.
There are two main methods for gaining wisdom: gathering it through life experience or asking God for a divine measure of it. Generally, we tend to use the first method the most. But the wisdom you can get from God is richer, deeper, more impactful, and far less painful!
How to Gain Wisdom
Here are three tips for how to gain wisdom, and learn how to adjust you’re the brightness settings of the gifts and talents God has given you so that you can be used effectively to build the Kingdom:
PRAY AND ASK FOR WISDOM. This one seems so simple that it shouldn’t even be listed, but it’s the easiest one to forget! Scripture says to ask and we will receive, so ask for wisdom! God is faithful to provide and this is one request that He loves to fulfill.
READ A CHAPTER OF PROVERBS EVERY DAY. Whatever day of the month it is, just read the corresponding proverb! It’s simple to do and as you continue reading them month after month, you’ll find yourself wiser than the month before. You can even join Daniah on the new TLV Bible App on weekdays at 8:45am to read and discuss the daily proverb on Facebook Live!
HANG OUT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE WISER THAN YOU. If the majority of your time is spent with people who make wise decisions, then you can gain wisdom by observing their behavior. And this might mean fellowshipping with people who are either much older than you, or much younger than you! As we saw with Yeshua, God’s supernatural wisdom is no respecter of age.
It may seem impossible to have the amount of wisdom that Yeshua did, but He Himself told us that we would do greater things than Him! So be brave, ask for wisdom, and let God teach you how to adjust your brightness settings for His Glory! •
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