JAMES 4:13-15
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to
this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make
money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen
tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a
little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If
it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
1. SEEK THE GUIDANCE OF GOD.
ACTS 16:6-8
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia
and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the
word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of
Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would
not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to
Troas.
PSALM 32:8-10
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I
will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like
the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be
controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing
love surrounds the one who trusts in him.
ACTS 16:8-9
8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night
Paul had a VISION of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
2. SEEK THE COUNSEL OF OTHERS.
ACTS 16:10
10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for
Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to
them.
PROVERBS 15:22
22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many
advisers they succeed.
PROVERBS 12:15
15 The way of fools seems right to them, but the
wise listen to advice.
PROVERBS 19:20
20 Get all the advice and instruction you can, and be
wise the rest of your life.
a) You must have an open mind and a teachable heart.
1 KINGS 12: 1-6
1 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 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.
1 KINGS 12: 7-10
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.
1 KINGS 12: 11-15
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.”