If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
- James 1:5

God is a generous God. According to today’s passage, he gives generously to all and he does it without finding fault. Anyone who asks will receive.

But we’re tempted to warp his generosity. When we hear promises of a generous God who gives good gifts, we open our hands and start asking for stuff. Bigger and newer homes. Better and higher-paying jobs. Relationships. Health. We start long lists of good gifts that we want. We start asking and start getting disappointed.

James promises that God will generously give wisdom.

When we’re struggling to pay our bills or feeling cramped or lonely or sick, wisdom can feel like a less-than-generous gift. But wisdom is the means by which God helps us navigate life. Wisdom is the highway to all of the other destinations to which our generous God wants to take us.

Our generous God cares immensely about who we’re becoming as we walk through life. He desires that we would become mature men and women who love him and love the people he leads across our path.

Without wisdom, all of the other generous gifts God could give us will become destructive to us. Bigger and new homes can become idols to our own self-importance. Better and higher-paying jobs can become traps for our ego and materialism. Relationships can consume us. Even our good health can be turned by foolishness into a cause for pride. But the wisdom that God gives changes everything.

With God’s wisdom we can receive all of God’s other good gifts in ways that honor him and are healthy for us.

God is a generous God and his generosity is always shaped by his love. He isn’t a slot machine. He’s a Father who loves us.

When you think about God’s character, how do you see his generosity connected with his love? Where in your life do you need wisdom? Ask him for that gift today.