Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
High in the mountains of Colorado there is a museum about mining in Leadville, which was once one of the wealthiest mining towns in America. They found gold in the mountains surrounding this high-set town. As I recall, in the early days of mining in the early 1800s, gold was fairly easy to find in comparison to today. They would find it in streams and rivers and close to the surface. With time, the ease of finding gold began to diminish. After that time, they had to dig for gold, and up came all the mines we think of associated with Western towns later on. Eventually, they began even more extreme means of mining for gold, and eventually began mining other metals besides silver and gold because they were more readily found.
In Job 28, Job has been in great difficulty. His friends did not understand him, and he was seeking for wisdom. He says that finding wisdom is somewhat akin to finding gold. In verse 1 he says, “Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.” He repeats this throughout this chapter, that there has got to be a place where wisdom can be found. Verses 12 and 13 continue, “But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.” You can’t even seem to find it where people live today. “It cannot be gotten for gold.” Wisdom cannot be valued with gold. Gold cannot equal wisdom. Then verse 20 says, “Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?”
The answer is found in verse 23 where he says, “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.” God is the source of wisdom. By this wisdom He made the universe, and it is implied in these words of Job that this wisdom that is innate to God is provided to man when he has a fear and reverence for God. Verse 28 says, “And unto man he [God] said, Behold the fear of the LORD that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” We find almost the exact same words several times in the book of Proverbs.
The point is, people don’t seek wisdom until they know they need it. James 1 talks about wisdom. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” God gives this wisdom generously and without scolding. He says that “the trying of our faith worketh patience,” and verse 4 says, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
Job was a man who claimed several times to be a man of integrity, complete and entire. He was the same person in good times and bad times. God Himself seemed to say that Job was a man of integrity though Job was obviously not a perfect man. So, the Bible says that the trial of your faith helps to make you whole. It helps to show what you are.
Job was in a trial of life. Life will test and try you. Job was in a number of life trials. He wished he could find a lawyer before God. He acknowledged that God was his witness in this court, and he acknowledged that God was the judge. So, Job is a man who went through trials, and therefore understood his need of wisdom. People don’t seek wisdom until they know they need it, and people don’t find wisdom until they know who has it. Job came to a place where he said “You know what, the wisdom that God has innately, the wisdom that spoke the world into existence, is the wisdom I need in my trial. I need this wisdom to come through my trial a complete, whole, entire person, a person of integrity who is the same in difficult and good times.”
Sometimes when things are going well, we don’t seek for wisdom. We don’t think we need anything. We think we are fine. It is when we are in difficult times, when friends are against us and nothing is going for us that we think, “Something is not working. I need help and wisdom.” Friend, whether you are in a good day or a bad day, you need wisdom. People don’t seek it until they need it, and people don’t find it until they know Who has it. That One Who has it is God.