On Wisdom

The burden I’ve carried for too long is depression and anxiety. The ways I deal with—the ways we all deal with anxiety and depression are called “coping skills”. We picked these tools up from parents, friends, books, TV, celebrities, teachers—the whole world around us. Thing is, almost all these ways we learned are flawed. Just look at our lives right now: We’re still worried and sad, day in and day out, no matter how much we’ve whacked those feelings with the same broken wrench we got when the world taught us “real men don’t cry,” or “don’t get mad, get even,” or “believe in your heart.”

But the Bible says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
(Romans 12:2 NLT)

Buying crap, eating crap, watching porn, hooking up, tearing people down, assuming you know people’s motives, obsessing over people, judging them, impressing them: all common ways to cope. And any medication or therapy I could prescribe, they only take the edge off. But God gives us a change that lasts: training for looking at and reacting to life in a better way:

His Word says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Philippians 4:6 NLT)

“Praying” just means “asking God.” And he listens to his kids, just like any dad would, when we ask Him for help. And we’re asking for ways to cope with life. We can call it “coping skills” today [in current year], but the ancients called it “wisdom”.

And the Bible says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
(James 1:5 NLT)

So run to the Father! Accept His wisdom is better than anything the world can give.