Wisdom and the Mystery of God

There is this old aphorism that I have heard more than once in my life, but it's becoming increasingly appropriate lately.  It goes something like this:  "The older I get, the less I know." 

Now, for some of us, that might explain why we go into a room in our house and forget why we went into it.  That's happened to me exactly three times in the past week.  

But what that phrase really seems to be saying is that we have a choice to make with every passing year: continue believing that we have everything figured out, and that we don't need to learn or change, or become more flexible with age (which seems impossible at times), and more open to the joy of new experiences. 

The latter is, in essence, true wisdom.  It is the ability to understand that you don't know everything, and to become set in our ways can destroy the childlike imagination we once had, and our sense of wonder along with it. 

There’s a paradox at the heart of wisdom: the more we truly learn, the more aware we become of how much we don’t know. At first, this can be unsettling—like realizing the shallow pool we thought was an ocean is just the edge of a vast, unfathomable sea. But in the life of faith, this is a gift.

When we first come to God, we often try to make God fit into neat categories, manageable explanations, and tidy doctrinal boxes. This can feel safe, even reassuring. But in doing so, we risk losing the wonder and mystery that first drew us to God. God becomes predictable in our minds—yet the God of Scripture is anything but predictable.

Theologian David Bentley Hart writes:  

“Wisdom is the recovery of innocence at the far end of experience; it is the ability to see again what most of us have forgotten how to see, but now fortified by the ability to translate some of that vision into words, however inadequate.”

This captures the journey beautifully. True wisdom does not lead to arrogance, but to a kind of childlike awe—one that has been tested, refined, and humbled by life’s complexity.

The Bible affirms this. Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Notice, it begins with reverence—an acknowledgment that God is infinitely beyond us. Paul echoes this in Romans 11:33: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

Even Jesus pointed to childlike wonder as the posture for entering God’s kingdom (Matthew 18:3). This is not about being naïve, but about holding a heart open to the possibility that God is always more than we imagine.

So, wisdom is not merely about accumulating facts about God. It’s about recapturing the innocent wonder we had at the beginning of our journey—now enriched by the depth of experience. It is learning to marvel again, to admit our smallness, and to delight in the vastness of the One who cannot be reduced to our definitions.

Today, may you open yourself to the mystery of God. Let yourself be both a learner and a dreamer. For in wonder, we find the truest wisdom.

Prayer:
Lord, give me the humility to admit what I do not know, and the courage to embrace the mystery of who You are. Restore to me the wonder of a child, and let that wonder be strengthened by the wisdom You grow in me. Amen.