THE DANGER OF FOLLOWING GOD WITH HUMAN WISDOM

THE DANGER OF FOLLOWING GOD WITH HUMAN WISDOM

By Rev. Samuel Arimoro

Main Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God…” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Supporting Texts: Proverbs 3:5-7, Romans 8:6-8, Isaiah 55:8-9, James 3:15, Jeremiah 17:5-6

INTRODUCTION:
In our journey of faith and service to God, we are often tempted to lean on our intellect, logic, and experiences. While these are useful tools in daily life, they can become dangerous when they take the place of divine direction. Many have missed divine appointments and aborted heavenly purposes because they followed God using the compass of human wisdom rather than the map of the Spirit.

Human wisdom is limited, earthly, and often self-centred. It is shaped by culture, education, and personal preference — all of which are subject to error and corruption. When a man chooses to follow God based on what seems right to him, rather than what God has spoken, he will eventually find himself off-course, frustrated, or completely outside the will of God.

True success in the Christian walk and ministry is rooted in surrender, not strategy. It flows from revelation, not reason. To walk with God is to walk by faith and not by sight. Therefore, we must beware of substituting spiritual obedience with carnal calculation.

1. HUMAN WISDOM CANNOT COMPREHEND GOD’S WAYS
Human logic will always fall short in grasping the depths of God's operations.

a) God’s thoughts are higher than ours
(Isaiah 55:8-9) – God's ways are beyond the natural mind's ability to understand.

b) The spiritual is foolishness to the carnal mind
(1 Corinthians 2:14) – Human wisdom sees the things of the Spirit as unreasonable.

c) God uses the foolish to confound the wise
(1 Corinthians 1:27) – Divine operations often contradict worldly intelligence.

d) Leaning on our understanding leads to error
(Proverbs 3:5-7) – Trusting in ourselves rather than in God brings ruin.

Biblical Example: Naaman almost missed his healing because of his preconceived ideas of how God should heal him (2 Kings 5:10-14).

2. HUMAN WISDOM BREEDS PRIDE AND SELF-DEPENDENCE
The reliance on intellect and strategy fosters arrogance, which God resists.

a) Pride goes before destruction
(Proverbs 16:18) – Intellectual arrogance leads to downfall.

b) God resists the proud
(James 4:6) – Divine help is withheld from the self-sufficient.

c) Success by human wisdom glorifies man, not God
(Isaiah 42:8) – God will not share His glory with human schemes.

d) Trusting man leads to dryness
(Jeremiah 17:5-6) – Human strength cannot sustain spiritual outcomes.

Biblical Example: King Uzziah became strong and proud, and he trespassed into the priest’s office — God struck him with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).

3. HUMAN WISDOM OPENS THE DOOR TO DEMONIC INFLUENCE
Worldly wisdom, when elevated above God's Word, can become a channel of deception.

a) There’s wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish
(James 3:15) – Not all wisdom is godly; some are influenced by the demonic.

b) Satan can exploit logic to tempt the believer
(Matthew 4:3-6) – The devil used Scripture and logic to try to mislead Jesus.

c) Relying on intellect can lead to manipulation
(Galatians 3:1-3) – The Galatians began in the Spirit but sought to finish in the flesh.

d) Philosophy can spoil the believer
(Colossians 2:8) – Intellectualism outside of Christ is a snare.

Biblical Example: Peter tried to stop Jesus from going to the cross, using human compassion. Jesus rebuked him as Satan’s mouthpiece (Matthew 16:21-23).

4. GOD DESIRES OBEDIENCE, NOT ANALYSIS
The call to follow God is a call to trust and obey, even when it does not make sense.

a) Obedience is better than sacrifice
(1 Samuel 15:22) – God honours yielded hearts over intellectual offerings.

b) The just shall live by faith
(Habakkuk 2:4) – Not by formulas or personal strategies.

c) Instructions from God may defy logic
(Joshua 6:3-5) – Marching around a wall seven times is not a military strategy.

d) God seeks followers, not analysts
(Luke 5:4-6) – Peter caught a multitude of fish when he obeyed the "foolish" instruction of Jesus.

Biblical Example: Abraham offered Isaac even when it made no human sense — that obedience secured generational blessing (Genesis 22:1-18).

CONCLUSION:
God is not seeking experts; He is seeking the obedient. Following Him requires that we crucify our natural wisdom and embrace divine instruction. There is danger in depending on human intelligence to navigate spiritual assignments. Such a path leads to error, frustration, and loss.

But when we choose to submit our wisdom and yield to His Spirit, He leads us into the fullness of His plans. Let us walk in humility, always acknowledging that His ways are perfect and His thoughts are higher than ours.

PRAYER POINTS:
1. Lord, deliver me from the deception of human wisdom.
2. Father, give me a heart that trusts Your leading without questioning.
3. I receive grace to obey divine instructions even when they do not make sense.
4. Every pride of intellect in me, be broken by the power of the cross.
5. I shut the door against every form of demonic manipulation in my life.
6. Lord, help me to walk by faith and not by sight.
7. Father, make me sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
8. Every stronghold of logic that hinders obedience, be pulled down.
9. Let the mind of Christ be fully formed in me.
10. I renounce every worldly counsel working against God’s plan in my life.

GOD'S WORD FOR YOU TODAY:
1. You will not be led astray by the wisdom of men.
2. The voice of the Lord will be clearer to you than ever before.
3. God will grant you supernatural insight above the natural mind.
4. You will walk in obedience and enjoy the blessings of divine instruction.
5. Every pride and self-dependence is being broken in your life.
6. You are delivered from every deception that looks like wisdom.
7. God is lifting you above the confusion of human reasoning.
8. You will not miss divine opportunities through carnal decisions.
9. The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth.
10. Your steps will be ordered by the Lord continually.