According to Proverbs, wisdom is a gem with many facets: insight, counsel, prudence, understanding, discernment, discipline, competence, discretion, instruction, guidance, knowledge, and righteousness. But the fundamental concept that embraces all these facets is found in the meaning of the Hebrew word that is most frequently used for wisdom— chokmah. This word, along with its variants, appears over 300 times in the Old Testament, and it essentially means "skill."
Wisdom is the skill in the art of living life with each area under the dominion of God. It is the ability to use the best means at the best time to accomplish the best ends. Wisdom, like life, ultimately belongs to God alone. “With Him are wisdom and might; to Him belong counsel and understanding” (Job 12:13).
As Daniel acknowledged:
Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.
It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:20-22)
Wisdom is the Lord’s plan by which He transforms a lifeless chaos into a living cosmos (Proverbs 8:22-31). Similarly, wisdom is the Lord’s plan by which He can transmute the moral and spiritual chaos of a human life into an incarnation of God’s sublime attributes of justice, equity, truth, and faithfulness.
Taken from Ken Boa’s Handbook to Spiritual Growth.
