There Is No Such Thing as a Stupid Question

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (Jas 1:5 AV)

 

When we quote this verse, we are usually drawing attention to the liberality of the wisdom of God.  We point out God’s readiness to bestow upon us answers to questions if we seek His face.  Wisdom, being the discipline to apply knowledge, is something the LORD deeply desires to share with His children.  We know the LORD wants us to grow more and more into the image of Christ.  This takes knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.  What I have never heard is an exposition on three little words in the center of this verse.  And upbraideth not.  The word ‘upbraideth’ means, “to defame, rail at, chide, or taunt; of undeserved reproach, to revile.”  What this verse says to me is that when we ask the LORD for wisdom, He will not chide or defame us for asking.  What a comfort.

We have all sat through this or done this.  Perhaps a student is sitting in class and asks a question.  The teacher becomes irritated because he or she has covered that information and assumes the student wasn’t paying attention or didn’t really care to ascertain the information.  So, a snarky remark is added to the answer.  “I’ve already told you once.  Do I really need to go over this again?” “If you were paying attention, you would have gotten it the first time.” “Well, obviously someone didn’t do their homework.”  “Why do you want to hold the whole class back because you don’t want to apply yourself?”  Responses like these can discourage anyone from asking any questions.  One trap I find myself falling into is expecting a base knowledge in the people I am teaching.  It is easy to forget they may not have a base of knowledge from which to work and I have to go back to basics.  Another frustration is teaching the same thing over and over again.  It doesn’t occur to us that some do not learn as quickly as others, and impatience is not going to help the situation any.  This is particularly true when we are teaching the Bible.  It is easy to forget that others cannot understand what we are saying because, if they are lucky, they have read their bibles for a total of one hour a week while we ministers get paid to study it all day long.  Why is it, those who are closest to us often receive the least patience when we mentor in wisdom?  Why is it when our spouses or children seek answers, we are a bit irritated, but if a church member asks, we are patient as the day is long?

When thinking about this part of the verse, I wondered what application, in particular, the LORD had for me.  The first is mentioned above.  I can be much more patient with those who seek Bible answers.  That is what God called me to do.  But there is another that applies to us all.  That is, God is patient and we need not fear chastisement from the LORD for simply being too slow or ignorant to get it.  Do I deal with the ghost of past mentors who had no patience with me?  Do I allow those experiences to stop me from asking the LORD for more wisdom?  Am I too afraid my inquiries are so simple the LORD will be displeased at me for asking?  Do I consider my need for wisdom too childish that I don’t bother asking at all?  Do I seek God’s face completely embarrassed that I lack wisdom and that in asking for it, somehow His opinion of me will change?  The point is a God who could very easily make us feel really small for asking does just the opposite.  His deepest desire is to lead His children into a life of deeper holiness and happiness.  This takes wisdom.  He would not be so cruel as to lose patience with us as we seek His wisdom.  Tender and merciful is our Father who will share with us any wisdom which we seek without a personal commentary on how we should have known better, how we continue to disappoint and fail Him, or how we are not worth His time.  What a gracious God we serve!