What does it mean to be wise—to ask God for wisdom, and to get it? It means three things:
Thomas Schreiner
We do not blame God for the evil in the world. We do not blame God for our own sin. We recognize it. This is not about being an intellectual. We are wise if we realize the problems with sin in our lives—and I am not talking about trials here—are our fault, aren't they? [If we realize that, then] we are wise. There are great intellectuals who do not know that.
We are wise when we see that all the good in the world—the only good in the world and the only good in our life—comes from God. We are wise when we see that. The goodness that we have is from him.
Finally, we are wise when we recognize and rejoice in the trials God is giving us, because then we recognize that God gives us those trials because he loves and cares for us. That is why he gives us trials. The wise person asks God, why am I suffering? And God says, Because I love you and I want you to be like Jesus.1
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,