In the third chapter of I Kings an account is given of a remarkable message to King Solomon on his succession to the throne of Israel. We are told that God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Ask what I shall give thee." In humility the king begged for wisdom wherewith to govern his people, a choice which earned the approbation of the Most High, and he was given not only wisdom but other gifts for which, with less exalted thought, he might have prayed. From this we learn that the answer to an unselfed desire may include more than we expected. A divine quality, such as wisdom, must inevitably further one's realization of Life and substance and promote victory over the claims of suppositional evil.
There is no man or woman who does not require wisdom in every step that has to be taken in daily life, in the home, school, office, workshop, or the councils of the nations. If wisdom were sufficiently sought and realized, how often would mankind be saved from suffering! If, during one day, every decision, every word, every action were governed by wisdom, the world would be a different place by nightfall! Well did the writer of the book of Proverbs exclaim, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom."
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 465) Mary Baker Eddy cites wisdom as one of "the attributes of God," and on page 6 of the same book she declares, "God is not separate from the wisdom He bestows." A realization, then, of the omnipresence of God brings with it a sense of the presence of wisdom, which destroys doubt and diffidence and enables decisions to be made in joyous confidence that God directs our path.
