Age and wisdom

“I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.” Job 32:7-9
We generally think of older people as being wiser than younger people. Older people have more life experience behind them, they’ve (mostly) learned how to control their tongue and their temper, they (usually) aren’t as reckless and prone to taking risks. Young people can be naive, are more prone to being influenced by peer pressure, and still have a lot of things to learn. But these are generalisations that are not always true. There are older people who are ill-prepared and foolish. There are younger people who display wisdom beyond their years.
The Bible teaches us over and over again that wisdom does not come from human endeavours, but from God. Some of the most foolish people I know have PhD’s, while some of the wisest people I know have never set foot in a university. And because wisdom comes from God, He is impartial to a person’s age in bestowing that wisdom upon them. Jesus displayed this wisdom at the age of twelve (Luke 2:47). Jeremiah was called by God as a prophet when he was a young man (Jer. 1:6-7). Joseph was less than thirty years old when he was serving in Potiphar’s house and in the prison (Gen. 37-41). Paul wrote to Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). God’s wisdom is available for anyone who will ask Him, regardless of their age. Have you asked Him to give you more wisdom?