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Scripture focus
To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
Romans 16:27 KJV
At a glance
If God is wise, why do his people still go through such confusing and painful circumstances?
Because wisdom, in Scripture, is never a guarantee of an easy life; it is God's unfailing skill in directing every circumstance, painful or not, toward the deeper goal of drawing his people into love and obedience.
Summary of the chapter
Packer defines biblical wisdom as the union of perfect intelligence with entirely good intentions — knowing both the best goal and the best route to it. Human wisdom, however sharp, can be resisted or ignored, as Ahithophel's rejected counsel to Absalom shows; God's wisdom, joined to his omnipotence, cannot be thwarted by anyone.
He traces that wisdom through the lives of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph — each led by paths that looked confusing or even wrong at the time, yet each shaped by a wisdom working toward ends the person involved could not yet see. The common thread is that God's wisdom operates through, not around, difficulty.
Packer's application is aimed squarely at the reader's own confusing seasons: the trials that make no immediate sense are not evidence that God's wisdom has failed, but very often the means by which it is doing its deepest work — building patience, humility and a deeper reliance that comfort alone could never produce.
Key points
- Wisdom, biblically, joins right goals to right means — and God possesses both without limit.
- Unlike human wisdom, God's wisdom is inseparable from his power, so it cannot be frustrated or outmaneuvered.
- Abraham, Jacob and Joseph illustrate wisdom working through confusing, even painful, circumstances toward a good end.
- God's wisdom does not promise an easy life; it promises purposeful direction through whatever life brings.
- Present confusion is not proof of divine failure — it is often exactly where God's wisdom is doing its deepest, slowest work.
Related Scripture
- Romans 11:33
- Genesis 50:20
- James 1:5
- Proverbs 3:5-6
For reflection and discussion
- Can you identify a season that felt senseless at the time but later revealed a wisdom you couldn't see in it?
- How does knowing God's wisdom cannot be thwarted change how you carry present uncertainty?
- Where are you currently tempted to conclude that a hard circumstance means God's wisdom has failed you?
These notes are an original UECF.NET study companion and are not a reproduction of the book. Read the full chapter — chapter 9, “God Only Wise” — in Knowing God by J. I. Packer (InterVarsity Press / Hodder & Stoughton, 1973).