GOD SPEAKS THROUGH
WISDOM AND COMMON SENSE

One of my favorite ways to hear from God is through
conventional wisdom and common sense. Wisdom
discerns truth in a situation, while common sense
provides good judgment in what to do about the truth. I
consider wisdom supernatural because it isn’t taught by
men, but is a gift from God.
Many sophisticated and intelligent people still lack
wisdom and common sense. The Word says, “If any of you
is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who
gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without
reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him”
(James 1:5).
Actually it amazes me how many people seem to think
that all their common sense must vanish in order for
them to be “spiritual.” Spiritual people don’t float around
all day on clouds of glory while seeing angels and hearing
disembodied voices. We live in a real world with real
issues and need real answers. The answers are found in
God’s Word and are revealed to us by His Spirit.
We do the seeking, and He does the speaking, but He is
the Spirit of Wisdom and will not tell us to do things that
are unwise. Wisdom and common sense are closely
linked. I like to say that wisdom is choosing to do today
what we will be satisfied with tomorrow or later on in
life.

When I am shopping, I often seek God for wisdom about
my purchases. I don’t pray about everything I buy, but I
do try to acknowledge God in all my ways. If I am going to
spend any sizable amount of money, I wait on the Lord
for a minute to see if I feel peace about it or not.
Many times we ask God to speak to us and lead us, but if
He doesn’t respond with a specific word, we still have to
live our daily lives. We make decisions all day long, and
He is not going to dictate every little choice we make, but
He does give us wisdom to carry us through our day.
When we don’t get a rhema from God, we need to use
conventional wisdom in the choices we make.
If God does speak to me, I have learned to do specifically
what He says to do. But if God doesn’t speak to me
specifically, it doesn’t mean He isn’t leading me. There are
some issues about which God already trusts me enough to
know what is right or wrong. I don’t have to have a “big
word” from God. But I have learned to wait on Him to see
if there is a need for Him to intervene in the way I am
planning to go.
For example, if I am pondering, Lord, is it okay for me to
buy this? and I don’t hear anything from God, then one of
the things I ask myself is, Can I afford it? Obviously, if I
can’t afford it, then wisdom says, “Don’t buy it.” The
audible voice of God is not needed when wisdom is
already shouting the truth.

If people would listen to wisdom, they would keep
themselves out of a lot of trouble. The book of Proverbs is
a great source for wisdom. I recommend that you read at
least a few verses of Proverbs or Psalms daily. I am not
trying to establish rules or regulations, but I simply share
what has profited me. Most days, I read something from
these two books. Psalms always encourages me and builds
me up, and Proverbs tells me how to stay out of trouble.
God speaks wisdom to us through what I call “sanctified
common sense.” A lot of people, even Christians, ignore
their common sense and make foolish decisions. An
example of not using common sense is when people get a
sense that something bad is going to happen to someone
else, so they call that person and say, “I have been praying
for you, and I sense that something really bad is going to
happen to you.” The bottom line is, I don’t believe there is
wisdom in telling anyone such things. That kind of news
can only bring fear, and God’s Word says to fear not.
Common sense tells us that if what we are hearing about
someone else is from God, then He has given us that
warning so that we will pray for that person’s protection.
What good would it do to scare the person with such
news?

If people would listen to wisdom, they would keep
themselves out of a lot of trouble.
I won’t discount that God may lead us to tell someone a
specific word for a specific event, but He would not tell us
to impress someone with a generalized fear. There is a
great difference between the two. Only common sense
will help us reason out the possible fruit of our decisions
and help us know which way we ought to go. Ask God for
sanctified common sense to lead you.
I greatly appreciate people who use common sense.
Sometimes I would rather be around a person who is
known for good common sense than someone who is
considered to be a spiritual giant.