From early 2014 until mid-2017, I worked as an editor in the marketing communications department of a large corporation. Our department, overwhelmingly comprised of graphic artists, was a newly formed Mac computer island within a corporate sea of PC platforms. So, whenever any of us called corporate IT for help with a tech issue, the answer was usually, “Umm, you’re on a Mac? I don’t know what to do.” Even when the IT person did try to help, there were long delays waiting for an answer.
I’m not the most tech savvy person, so when I ran into inevitable computer problems, it was frustrating not to have ready help from corporate IT. I would privately fume at the slow and sometimes inadequate response.
Then, like everyone else in our department, I discovered Paul. Paul was our image coordinator and a Mac wizard. I joined the line at his desk to get answers, or emailed him, or sent a quick text asking about my latest tech snafu. And Paul was great. He was patient, knowledgeable, and his answers worked! It was like having my own private IT department at my side.
But Paul was a very busy guy. He and the team he led were processing hundreds of images a week. It was unrealistic to expect him to keep up with an unofficial, and unasked for side gig of assisting everyone with their Mac issues. And one day, when I stopped by his desk with yet another query, he looked up, smiled a bit wearily, and said, “Susan, you know you could Google that question and get the answer. That’s what I do sometimes, too.”
Ahh, Google! I felt slightly chastened, but what he said made perfect sense. I went back to my desk and did exactly as Paul suggested. And there it was, the answer to my computer question in five easy steps. Why hadn’t I thought of doing that before? I had used web search for hundreds of other questions, but Googling to unsnarl my Mac hadn’t been one of them.
And now, years later, whenever I encounter a computer issue, I always remember Paul’s advice, “You could Google that.” Unless my computer is actually dying, I can usually find a quick solution.
Yes, Google (or other search engines) is great for all sorts of practical advice. Fixing a Mac. Diagnosing the leak from our dishwasher. Figuring out what’s causing the worrying rattle in the car. Or maybe even discovering how to keep squirrels from digging up bulbs (my latest search).
But wisdom for life’s big questions? Like, how to deal with the current anxiety over the pandemic and all the huge crises in front of our country? Where to invest my time, talent and treasure? How to have a lasting impact on my children and grandchildren? And even more importantly, how to set aside the recurring idols in my life and depend on Christ only for joy and sustenance? For these questions, Google is like my former corporate IT department, “I don’t know what to do.”
Another Paul, the apostle, has something to say about finding wisdom in I Corinthians 1:19-25:
For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
It’s all too easy for me having become conditioned by the quick and easy answers from Google to expect the same from “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” As I did when seeking answers to my Mac problems at work, I often privately (or publicly) fume at what I in my limited vision consider a slow or inadequate response. I want five easy steps. And I want them now.
Christ offers a different way to wisdom. James 1:5-6 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”
In my notes from Pastor Moody’s sermon from August 30 on this passage, I read (my paraphrase of his words): “The great secret of life is to inquire of the Lord. He gives generously, without reproach, in love as a Father. But the condition for this wisdom is faith. Not make believe or positive thinking, but commitment. ‘Without doubting’ means trusting God even if we don’t get it. Trust God and be steadfast.”
I’m slowly learning how this God-given wisdom is so much better than asking Google, or family, or friends, or a self-help article or book. It comes through steadfast commitment, through reading God’s Word, through the daily exercise of faith and dependence on my Lord and Savior. It’s not a quick hit on my computer screen or five simple steps, but it’s ultimately far more satisfying and long lasting. It is the “good gift” and the “perfect gift” that is “from above.” (James 1:17)
