by Rich DuBose
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” ― Isaac Asimov.
The best example of this is what's currently happening with AI. We are high on knowledge, but frighteningly short on wisdom.
The problem with the world and many of its leaders is that most don’t know what wisdom is or how to obtain it. Too many confuse knowledge with wisdom, which are not even in the same league. We can be full of knowledge, but totally at a loss with how to apply it. This is why Albert Einstein said, “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
The difference between knowledge and wisdom is time—the years it takes to understand what only experience can teach us. On an elementary level I experienced this as a small boy when my granddad asked which I would rather have, three nickels, or one quarter? My uninformed brain wanted to choose the three nickels, because everyone knows three is more than one. But experience had not yet taught me that one quarter is actually five nickels.
Would you rather go to a doctor who’s just graduated from medical school with a head full of fresh knowledge, but who has very little experience, or go to a credentialed physician who has years of diagnostic experience and hand’s on learning? Head knowledge is important, but it only becomes useful when it’s paired with what can be learned in the laboratory of real encounters with patients.
This is why Herman Hesse once said, “Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else...Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” (1)
Two Kinds of Wisdom
What the world views as wisdom needs to be carefully examined, because a person’s perspective and worldview can color their perceptions of reality.
One author summarizes this really well. “Worldly wisdom and godly wisdom are two contrasting concepts found throughout the Bible. Worldly wisdom is characterized by human reasoning, often driven by self-interest, pride, and a focus on temporal success. In contrast, godly wisdom is rooted in the fear of the Lord, humility, and a focus on eternal truths and righteousness.” (2)
James says, “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18, NLT).
Unfortunately we pay more attention to the fleeting realities of our every day lives than the ruminations of an unseen God. We focus on what we can see, touch, and taste, over what we view as theoretical and out of sight.
Who Can We Trust?
We were created with sensory receptors to help us discern reality and make life immensely pleasurable. Our senses are the gateways to our hearts that help us understand truth and reality. However, because we live in a world that has lost its equilibrium, we can’t always trust what our senses tell us.
As Eve stood before the forbidden tree in Eden, it didn’t look like the dangerous thing God had made it out to be. The fruit was pleasing to her eyes. In fact, it looked delicious, and the snake was eating it without any apparent danger. In addition, she was amused by the fact that the snake could talk. Who knew such a thing existed? A talking snake! Wow!
From that (seeing is believing) encounter, Eve trusted her senses over the divine warnings. She needed divine wisdom to guide her thinking, but she must have thought, “I can figure this out on my own.” God said this tree would be bad news for her future if she partook of its fruit. But her senses told her otherwise.
When God’s council seems out of touch with reality, what should we do? Who should we believe?
This reminds me of a song in the early 70's about forbidden love, written by Danny Walls, Norro Wilson, and Sammy Lyons, and sung by David Houston and Barbara Mandrell. It was titled, “How Can It Be Wrong When It Feels So Right?”
The lyrics describe two people who are married—committed to others, but who long to be in each other’s company:
You run to meet me and I reach out my arms
When I hold you close it makes me feel so warm
And we'll slip away and be together tonight
How can this be wrong when it feels so right?
Even though I love you I can't call you mine
So we'll love each other a little at a time
So kiss me once more then I'll say goodnight
How can this be wrong when it feels so right?
How can it be wrong when it feels so right?
And we'll both go home to another tonight
We’ll hide our feelings and hold each other tight
How can this be wrong when it feels so right?
How can this be wrong when it feels so right? (3)
Things Are Not Always As They Appear
Paul talks about “seeing through a glass darkly.” We view our lives through lenses that often obscure what’s actually there. Sometimes we try to avoid seeing clearly because reality is not what we want to experience. We would rather be under the delusion of a fantasy.
When Abraham believed God was asking him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, he tried to ignore the request and pretend it wasn’t real. But his conscience wouldn’t let do that. He didn’t tell Sarah because he probably thought she would think he was crazy and try to stop him.
The only way out of this dilemma was for Abraham to invite God to enlighten his thinking. God said he would make him a great nation, with his descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Yet, God was also asking him to do this counter-intuitive thing that didn’t make sense. Isaac was the child of promise, miraculously born to Abraham and Sarah in their geriatric years. But then God wanted him to kill him?
Finally, after wrestling with it in agony for what must have felt like an eternity, Abraham conceded that this was God’s problem, not his. His part was to trust and obey.
“It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, ‘Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.’ Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead” (Hebrews 11:17-19, NLT).
“It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them” (11:11-12, NLT).
Divine wisdom often defies human logic, which is why we are tempted to ignore it. It seemed logical to Eve to eat the fruit God had warned her about. But look what happened when she followed her instincts. It blew up in her face!
“Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment” (Proverbs 4:7, NLT).
1 Hermann Karl Hesse was a German-Swiss poet and novelist, and winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature.
2 The Bible Hub online Scripture Commentary
3 (Recorded by Barbara Mandrell and David Houston. 1972. Written by Norro Wilson, Danny Walls, and Sammy Lyons)
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California | Photo by Ramy Photographer, with Pexels
On the web at: richdubose.com. All Rights Reserved © 2026. Join me on Blue Sky @spiritrenew.bsky.social.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.