Does Wisdom Mean Freedom From Failures?

It has occurred to me that I can get frustrated with God that daily, I ask for wisdom in my hopes that I will never commit a mistake nor will I fail but the problem is that, God is not the kind to make people perfect but rather, He chooses to show His power among the weak. To think about it, even righteous Abel was deceived by Cain to his death, Samson who was given strength by the Holy Spirit made bad decisions in his life or maybe the best case is Solomon who despite having knowledge as the sand of the sea and in the New Testament- imagine Peter denied Christ thrice. So why does He allow failures? Looking at it, God is not a God who wants to have braggarts but humbled servants. Humbling one's self before God for salvation is not enough for the Christian in the area of growth. Instead, God chooses the harsh reality that Christians are and should be humble achievers, never boasters for their own glory because it's by grace and not by works that salvation is done and kept (Ephesians 2:8-10). A believer blossoms into good works but he or she must never take credit for it one way or another. Trials are to humble people while strengthening them, God does not want to strengthen people without humbling them first! No Christian should ever take credit of their life changes- they turned away from a life of sin is not by their own effort but purely upon God!

In the reality, Solomon had worldly wise which was soon going to be his own downfall. I was wondering why did God allow Solomon to suddenly experience such a tragic and foolish downfall. Wasn't God able to stop Solomon? Certainly He could stop Solomon but instead, God chose to appear to Solomon when he was already in his tragic, foolish state. The problem can be this- self-confidence. Nobody is exempt from such a foolish reality. Peter said, "Well I won't..." and "Even if they throw me into prison, I will never deny you Lord." but instead Jesus said, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me thrice." So why the failure? Why did God allow Solomon to stumble? Why did God allow Peter to deny His Son three times? It's a very hard question to answer, I cannot really give a definite answer but it becomes a little bit more like this- for humility. For one thing, I can never say, "Well I'll never do anything foolish, I'm too smart and holy to do that!" because for one, I am still tainted with sin difference is, I don't revel in sin! People make bad decisions, they fall down.

I was reading through the Book of Ecclesiastes and looking at it, Solomon realized that he had become a foolish man. Stupid people don't even see they are stupid, wise people see they are weak and stupid and run to God in absolute humility. Solomon in his own knowledge realized he was but a fool. Solomon in one verse after the other, has shown his foolishness against the very wisdom of God. He had all the knowledge he could possess but what did he do? To think about it, he foolishly had 700 wives and 300 concubines and most of them were heathen women. The example is clear- Solomon's failure was obviously the result of his reliance on his own ability and that he was using God's gift to enrich himself. He talked about vineyards and gardens, he talked about how much money he had but in the end, he really realized that everything was becoming clear- he had become the stupidest king years after he became the wisest king to sit on the throne. Would have God prevented Solomon from doing so, he might have already begun bragging while writing Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Instead we read from both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, Solomon renouncing his talents and praising God. Solomon was humbled by God and God made Solomon wiser.

One might as well try to understand the Kingdom of God are not for the most sinless achievers but for forgiven sinners who received a new life only by God's grace. You might think about Peter's example. Would have God not allowed Peter to fail, I doubt it Peter would be humbled. For one thing, remember Peter was referring to himself with "I" and "me" like "Even if everybody deserts you, I will never do so." Doesn't that sound a very difficult if not impossible thing to promise not to mention very arrogant and self-centered? Clearly Jesus wanted to hurt Peter not out of sadistic pleasure but because Peter had the terrible problem of pride. To think about it, only when Peter realized he wasn't as macho as he thought as he was and reminding him that he was just a nobody who needed Somebody, the grace of God could not take place. How did Peter gain wisdom? Not by avoiding failure but in that failure, realized that he was just another person who needed Somebody. Clinging to that Somebody instead of relying on his own wisdom.