'Wise people are not wise because they are prophets who see the future. Wise people are not wise because they can look into men's hearts and discern their thoughts and motives. Wise people are not wise because they are better at learning from experience. Wise people are not those who have been bleesed with superior intellect.
Wise people are those who treasure the lamp of God's Word, seeking out and crying out for the light of truth. In other words, wise people are simply prepared people - biblically prepared and equipped for whatever might come along. People become wise when by God's grace they are humble enough to accept how unprepared they actually are in themselves. Sacrificing the false god of their own independence, they run to the one place where actual certainty can be found. Then they are able to live hopefully, productively, and courageously. Then they are prepared for whatever comes along - not because they saw it coming, but because they have been students of the Word of God. They don't know more about the future than anyone else does. But God, through the wisdom of the Bible, has made them ready for it.'
Paul David Tripp, Broken-Down House, p.84.
