We face the same dilemma in our own little kingdoms. Do we listen to the advice of older Christians, our parents, our in-laws, our mentors? Or do we stubbornly plow ahead on our own? If, for example, your father-in-law gave you an excellent suggestion that would save you time and make your life easier, would you accept it? Or would you reject it simply because it came from your father-in-law? If you follow Moses’ lead, you will accept it (Exodus 18:13-27). Let’s face it: with increased age, older Christians may have increased wisdom.

Why not take advantage of their wisdom? That does not mean that you must always do what they advise, but why not give them a good hearing and then consider the merits of their ideas? If it seems wise to you and your spouse, then go with it, remembering that it is your decision.

Take time to pray and ask God… to grow you in humility and wisdom so that you are open to good advice;

Ask God to show you older people in your life whose counsel could guide you, and to help you appreciate them.

Take time to reflect:

Who are the older Christians in your life whose advice you can solicit?

How open are you to others’ perspectives? When an older person offers advice, do you find yourself listening open-mindedly or chafing inwardly? Why do you think you tend to respond that way?

In the decisions you are currently facing who might have a fresh perspective for you to consider?

Consider these passages for further study on Wise Counsel:

Proverbs 13:10 Where there is strife, there is pride,
    but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
    whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Colossians 3:16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

I Kings 12:1-24

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from^[a] Egypt. ³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷ They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

“What share do we have in David,
    what part in Jesse’s son?
To your tents, Israel!
    Look after your own house, David!”

So the Israelites went home. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,^[b] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

Listening is a challenge when taking advice. Don’t just be lazy and rely on others when taking advice. Listen to yourself and make your own wise decisions. It helps you learn to be more of yourself and take others as a whole. Great thoughts of Gary Chapman.

As a parent, you cannot and should not offer easy answers, but you can encourage the teenager’s search and perhaps introduce your son or daughter to people of various vocational counselors both at high school and later at the university. But ultimately, you should encourage your teenager to follow the example of Samuel. The ancient Hebrew prophet heard God’s call as a teenager and said, “Speak, your servant is listening “ (1 Samuel 3:10), He had a sense of divine calling and lived out that call in his vocation.

Thank God for giving you a model of obedience in Samuel. Thank Him that He holds the future in His hands and has unique plans for your child. Ask Him to give you the wisdom and patience to guide your child through the coming years.

Reflect on these questions:

What do you have to offer a young person who is contemplating his or her future?

In your heart of hearts, what do you want for your child’s future?

What do you need to do in order to prepare your child for the future?

Consider these passages for further study on Preparing for the Future:

Psalm 39:4-7

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
    even those who seem secure.^[a]

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
    in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
    without knowing whose it will finally be.

⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.

Proverbs 6:6-11

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷ It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.

Hebrews 13:8 ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hope changes everything. There are times we need the Lord more than others times. Whenever that time is, keep the Lord close by your side to guide you in the right direction with the decisions you make in life. Great devotional by Gary Chapman.

James 1:1-2

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds,

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

James 1:4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Romans 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Our goal is to glorify God in any way and use our talents to their full potential. God uses trials to strengthen and complete us. It’s what God wants for us. Does God permit us to test us to make us stronger? The lessons are timing. Are you stronger in Christ?

He uses us. There is exciting and motivating work. How about our individual growth in Christ? When life is difficult, can you make lemonade out of it? Through faith, he can be victorious. Be perfect by taking trials into triumphs. Learn how with these 4 commands:

1. Consider (count) joyful attitude
2. Know – understanding mind
3. Let – surrendered will
4. Ask – trusting heart

James 1:1-8 Consider it joy!

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Christianity is a thinking religion. Emotion from the truth because it’s the truth it focuses on feeling.

Hebrews 12:2 who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Philippians 3:7-16 Counted as loss for the sake of Christ. I count all things to be lost. Count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. Is it worth it on what you measure up?

Verse 12 has not already become perfect. (Fully mature, reached the goal) but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold for Christ Jesus. Perfect (mature) have this attitude.

Are you mature? Mature people can see things spiritually.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example

¹⁵ All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

2 Cor. 4:16-5:1

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Awaiting the New Body

5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

We evaluate and need to train ourselves to look beyond the physical.

1. Consider (count) the trials or tests. Trials or tests – God uses them to make us stronger. The temptations Satan uses to break us. God wants me to respond in a way to makes me stronger. Consider it all joy.

John 16:33 Take courage, I have overcome the world.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I Peter 4:12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange was happening to you.

2 Tim. 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

2. We come to know things in a different light.

James 1:3 Knowing that faith is always tested. Test us to be genuine. Producing endurance and patience. Impatient people are more susceptible to sin. Why? We don’t want to wait and drive by the strong desires.

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

3. Let… surrendered will.

James 1:4 is perfect and complete lacking in nothing. We must decide what is more important to us.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

4. Ask – James 1:5 lack wisdom? His in faith, trusting heart. Ask for wisdom!

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

To be perfect is to see with spiritual eyes the real world.

James 1:9-11 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ¹⁰ But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wildflower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

The real reward. James 1:12 Receive the crown of life. A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. A popular quote of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Lord make me stronger.

Develop my wisdom and strength to see the real reward.

A prayer I say daily as I focus on wisdom. Great thoughts in the sermon given by John Kilgore. Listen to it here.

Share your thoughts and how you turn your trials into triumphs.