Jeremiah 38:15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me
Some years ago, I talked on the phone to a gentleman whom I did not really know, but who was a believer in need of several things in his life. He asked me to pray with him for those things. One of the things he was praying about was a job. He had recently lost his job and had been given an offer to work at a nightclub. He asked me to pray that God would give him wisdom about whether he should take that job. We talked for some time and finally I said, “I’m not going to pray that God will give you wisdom. I’m going to pray that God will give you courage. It is obvious that you have a conscience about working in the nightclub. You know what to do and you need courage to do what you know to be right.” So many times, we are seeking for guidance in our live and think what we need is wisdom when what we really need is courage. Other times people think they need courage when they really need wisdom. We need both.
In Jeremiah 37-38 we find the tragic, pitiful story of a coward king named Zedekiah. Zedekiah wanted to know which direction to go. He wanted to know what God’s mind on the matter was as Babylon threatened the very existence of Jerusalem. Verse 2 says, “But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.” In other words, he claimed to want to know what God wanted, but every time God told him through Jeremiah, he ignored it. He came to Jeremiah multiple times in secret seeking wisdom, yet he put Jeremiah in prison. There was a struggle in Zedekiah’s life between what he knew to be right and willingness to do that was right. You will never have the wisdom to know what is right until you have the courage to do it.
In Jeremiah 38:5, when the princes want to have Jeremiah thrown into prison for telling the truth, the king replied, Behold, he [Jeremiah] is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.” He is saying, “I wouldn’t stop you. Whatever you want to do is fine.” Then secretly he asked Jeremiah, “What is the word from the Lord?” Jeremiah often gave that word and the king came back again and asked if there was anything new, as if God was going to change His mind when Zedekiah hadn’t changed his ways. In verse 19 the king said, “I am afraid of the Jews.” He was a king who was afraid of everyone save God. He feared the Babylonians, reverenced the Egyptians and the men in his own court, but he did not fear God enough to know what to do even though God told him what to do.
Don’t confuse wisdom and courage. Don’t pray for wisdom when what you really need is courage, the fortitude to do what you know to be right. All the wisdom in the world is not going to help you if you don’t have the courage to act on it. On the other hand, don’t pray for courage when what you need is wisdom, a lick of sense. I don’t need more power to do something if I don’t know what to do in the first place. So, don’t confuse the two.
Don’t ignore either one. In my life I need both in equal measure at the same time. So much of the ignorance in which Zedekiah lived was willful ignorance. It was ignorance because he ignored what God had said. God gave him guidance through Jeremiah, but then he had Jeremiah thrown in prison. God gave him guidance through Jeremiah, but he was embarrassed to be seen with him. It reminds me that there are so many “third rail” issues in believer’s lives. By third rail I am referring to the subway rail that provides electricity and power. You’re dead if you touch it. Many topics no one will talk about because they are a third rail; they are not acceptable to talk about. We can’t talk about roles, rearing children, or personal convictions. Good people differ on a number of things, which is fine, but to be in total ignorance and silence about something simply because it is not expedient or does not put us in good standing with people is not right.
Obedience gives both wisdom and courage. I will be a wiser and more courageous than I am if I simply respond in obedience. Jeremiah said to the king in Jeremiah 38:20, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.” The king didn’t listen and kept asking for guidance, hoping it would change. He asked for wisdom and guidance when he didn’t have the courage to act on it.
My dad has often prayed something that I have now made my own, “God, please give me the wisdom to know what is right and the courage to do it.” That is a good prayer. I need that every day. Often, I don’t have the wisdom to know what I should do. Other times, I know what I should do, but don’t have courage and I sit back on “I don’t know what to do” as an excuse. You will never know what to do, the wisdom to know what is right, until you have the courage to do it. If you have the courage to obey God, then God will give you the grace you need to do everything He wants you to do.