~Open in prayer~
Icebreaker
• What is your favorite type of food?
• What type of food do you dislike?
• What is a meal that you can’t live without?
Message Review
The whole point of this series of Wisdom Society is the desire to confront the practicalities of things that can sabotage our life. This series is not meant to be highly deep, but it is important to share simple concepts from the book of Proverbs which is the wisdom of God. You are getting to peer into God’s mind. The book of Proverbs is how God thinks. Most people stay on a low level with God and try not to sin. They aim to always do the right thing. However, we have to move past that to one day get to a place where it’s easier to do right than it is to do wrong. Then you move to the next level, not is it right or wrong but is it wise? There are many things that are morally neutral but are they good or bad for you? I’ve had many good things cross my path that I had to say no to because although it was a good thing, it was not Ron’s thing. The Bible says, “all things are lawful for me but not all things are beneficial.” God is not chasing you down with the ten commandments trying to hammer you. In this series, I want us to continue to grow into people of wisdom. The Bible says, “that if any man lacks wisdom just let him ask.” I go all the way back foundational, and I always ask, have you asked God. Not to be smart but to be wise. Wise people know how to apply what they know. I know people who are Bible scholars but are not able to put content together to teach someone else. There are people who know a lot, but they do not know how to execute. Knowing the difference in a room or moment.
Knowing the difference for who’s presence you’re in. These are all wisdom keys.
Let’s Talk About It!
We have been keeping animals as the main theme in regard to the concept of understanding wisdom. In Proverbs 30, there are four animals and they explain the concept well. Proverbs 30:24-28 says “24 There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: 25 The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; 26 The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags; 27 The locusts have no king. Yet they all advance in ranks. 28 The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings’ palaces.” Ants gather in the summer to prepare for the winter, it always has a plan. The ant never reacts, it acts. Too many of us live life responding instead of creating. We just show up tomorrow instead of creating tomorrow. Some people show up create a retirement. Your God is a God of priority and plan. The Bible is a book of priorities. We have to learn what deserves our action and what does not. Once we understand that, we know what to say yes and no to.
My great-grandfather had the worst health habits you have ever seen, and he lived to almost hundred years old. Every time you see him, he would be smoking a cigarette as big as my thigh. He had a house that was 500/600 sq. ft. In this house none of the windows were the same side, the doors did not match, all the doorknobs were different. You would go into one room and the floor would go down. The house was like this because he would get with his drunk buddies and they would put the house together. My granddad would buy them a case of beer in exchange for helping with the house. They would go to Lowe’s and whatever was on sale they would buy. There were no architect, plans, or meeting codes. This was a picture of having no plan and this is how some of us live our lives. No plan or strategy in place and what I have learned is if you do not plan life, life will plan it for you. You will spend your whole life responding to problems instead of the outcomes that you desire. Not everything happens like we want it to, but when we plan, we get pretty close to having the outcomes that we desire. Even through obstacles God always brings us back to the plan because He works all things out for the good of them that love God and that are called according to His purpose! I have learned that God can take the mistakes I have made in the plan and turn it around. Even when other people try to mess up the plan, He still works it out according to His plan. It doesn’t matter how it goes whether good or bad, He can keep the plan intact and keeps us on the path that we should go.
Your God is a God of plan and strategy. He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 3 that before you were in your mother’s womb, I knew you. There are two kinds of know, know by knowledge and know by experience. God is talking about know by experience here. God already had a plan for us before we entered the Earth. God already had a plan for us before we showed up. That’s why Adam showed up last. He didn’t create Adam on the first day and say let me find something for him to do. A garden was created and then He created man. Then placed the man in the garden. It was already prepared, just like a plan was prepared for us before we were in our mother’s womb. God has a purpose for your life and He will guide you through each step.
What do you think your purpose is in your life?
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul ; He leads me in the paths of righteousness. For His name’ s sake. He leads us on a path, our life has a path. Our path is not random, it is planned by God!
Questions:
1. If you could do anything with your life, what would you do?
2. Why do you believe God gave us purpose?
3. After reviewing this guide, how do you think wisdom plays a part in your purpose?
Prayer Focus and Requests
Ask your members if they have any prayer requests or praise reports. Encourage one another to stir up your faith and pray BIG prayers this week and expect God to blow your mind with His answers.