Welcome back to the last part of our series of Wisdom, Revelation, and Understanding. In Part 1 we discovered wisdom was a person and the person of the Holy Spirit. In Part 2 we learnt that revelation is directly connected and downloaded from the Father of the Heavens. Today it’s Understanding.
The dictionary says: the ability to understand something; comprehension, and sympathetic awareness or tolerance (noun) and sympathetically aware of other people’s feelings; tolerant and forgiving, and having insight or good judgement (adj)
How interesting that we’re back at the beginning. What I mean is if you look back at Wisdom in the dictionary from Part 1 it’s:
Wisdom: the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise. Wise is having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgement.
And one of the meanings of understanding is: having insight or good judgement.
Why? Because understanding is a part of Wisdom and Wisdom is a part of understanding, and both are needed to be truly wise, But only if led by true revelation.
So let’s look at the following meanings of understanding and see how they apply to our walk with the Lord.
To truly be able to understand something we need to know who created it? What was created for? (reason) and it’s use? (application)
This is the way true compassion comes, and so many things are used outside of the reason they were createdfor and the result is people have no comprehension of what they were created for and are.
As a youth pastor I was asked a question by one of our youth.“ Craig why did God create Marijuana? I knew this youth had come from a family with connections to drugs and gangs, and had witnessed people smoking marijuana. How and what was I to answer in this moment, that I felt would be defining for this one. The Lord’s words came out of my mouth “the Lord created marijuana as medicine, but as with all things, what can be used and intended for good, can also be used for the bad.
I learnt that day understanding is so important for decisions, invitations and truths that will change internal values and allow freedoms to come.
Secondly sympathetic awareness or tolerance, is when we have understanding and comprehension that all things were created for a plan and purpose. We can have this for things, situations or circumstance. For example people who see their actions, understanding, situation and circumstance they are currently in as: where they are at or where they are, not who as who they truly are!
Jesus models this in His daily life whether He is with His disciples or others. Even when the disciples want to call down fire on a village (Luke 9:54). Notice what Jesus does? He realigns their thinking with revelation from the Father.
“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them, then we showed them another path”. (Luke 9:55-56)
Paul did the same in Athens, he lived, worked and did life with the people there, he didn’t come against them,but walked with the people. Because of this, the Lord gave Him the revelation, wisdom and words, as now the people were open to Him and His word.
Did you know, if we are able to walk with people the same way, and see them for who they are, and that their situation and circumstance they are currently in, is a by-product of what and where they have been. THEN we will get an invitation like Paul and Jesus to bring a word of transformation through invitation and suggestion.
Once I was in a church, where I met a young man, the youth pastor, who told me that he had just resigned from the role. Why I asked? He said he was not able to break down the walls in the youth’s lives, and so could not bring change. He said “ they simply would not drop their walls!” The Lord said out of my mouth “that’s because you weren’t vulnerable and transparent with them. If you are not vulnerable and transparent with them how do you expect them to be same with you?”
The resigned youth pastor look astonished at me as though He had been hit by a freight train. He said “why did no-one tell me this?”
Key: if we want to be truly sympathetic with awareness or tolerant in understanding people we need to be vulnerable and transparent as Paul and Jesus were! In fact Paul mentioned that His weaknesses are His strengths (2 Corinthians 12:9 ) Paul regularly shared his testimony of being Saul to Paul! Hmm is this why his ministry was so impacting and successful?
Roman 2:4 (ERV)
“God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don’t understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives”.
Wow, if this how the Lord acts towards us, would not the Lord ask and expect the same to those He has trusted us to walk with.
Jesus spoke about this as He broke all the laws that started in Exodus Chapter 10 and reaching 613 commandments, Jesus summed these up in two:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” Matt 22:37 & Luke 10:27.
Did you know to the level we understand the Father Loves us will be to the level we Love Him? and in turn we can pass on this Love to others.
Lastly being sympathetically aware of other people’s feelings; tolerant and forgiving, is this not the applicationto what we have been discussing? Actually the adjective meaning of understanding.
In conclusion of this series I believe these three things Wisdom, Revelation & Understanding are what isessential to Life in abundance. These very things are what the Lord gave to Solomon that made him so successful and can be the same for you. Remember though, all three are needed, if we lose one we could end up like Solomon, whose story started with a promise and provision, when he asked for these three things from the Lord and received them, yet allowed his freewill to take him off course and end badly!
Did his greatest weakness and downfall came from understanding his identity outside of the role he had? Yes! Identity can only come from the understanding of who we truly are and whose we are!
If you are struggling in this area, keep an eye out, as we are excited to release an app on IOS and OS called Identity next month.
Challenge time: Grab your journal, space free of distractions to spend time with the Lord.1. Ask the Father – Do I really understand Your Love? and let your love pass on to others? Record what He says and ask Him for greater encounter with His Love for you and Love to others.
2. Ask the Lord to show you any areas in you or your daily life, that need to be REALIGNED to His thinking, record what He says and shows you.
3. Ask the Lord how you are going with being ‘vulnerable and transparent’ in your daily life. Record what He says.
4. Get excited if He says not much yet, here is your invitation to partner with Him. Prayer and ask Holy Spirit to give you courage and strengthening so you are able to be completely ‘vulnerable and transparent with those you do life with.
5. Give Thanks to Him.
Father thank You for Your children. Would You grant and place upon them Wisdom, Revelation and Understanding to the portion that they can handle, and guard their minds and hearts in the process, so that they be able to fulfil everything You created them for. In Jesus name. Amen
Craig Patten
Itinerate Pastor / Prophet
Encounter Ministries
