OPENER: Who Want’s To Be A Millionaire Trivia Game
(available on powerpoint by request)
Fitting into Your World:
Congratulations on your physical prowess in dealing with everyday obstacles. For instance—
You probably navigated stairs expertly by shortening their strides and lowering their feet—and not even holding onto the handrails!
They respected the rigidity of walls and only attempted to enter rooms by the portals we call doors.
You recognized—smartly—that it was best to take a shower with hot water and brush their teeth with cold water.
For those of you that drive, you drove on the right side of the road at the posted speed—courteously honoring all signs and traffic signals—so they arrived in one piece.
Congratulations on your amazing discernment in use of paper.
Today no one tried to buy lunch with a Post-it note.
No one loaded Kleenex into a laser printer.
People didn’t blow their noses into a dollar bill.
No one dried their hands with a newspaper.
You demonstrated tremendous skill today at fitting into your physical world.
But how did you do in your moral world?
Your relational world?
Your spiritual world?
The ability to work with the deeper principles of life—to fit into the moral, relational, and spiritual world as God has made it—is what the Bible calls wisdom. A few of the most famous verses in the entire Bible explain to us what wisdom is.
Illustration: What Is Wisdom?
An angel appears at a teachers meeting and tells the teacher that in return for his unselfish and outstanding behavior in teaching the students to the best of his ability, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning.
Now, all heads turn toward the teacher, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. After a few seconds, a teacher sitting next to him whispers, "Say something wise."
The teacher looks at him and says, "I should have taken the money."
1. Wisdom is relying on God’s strength.
Scripture reread Proverbs 3:5 (“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”)
When you trust in someone, you don’t just share a few secrets or loan them your favorite CD. You rely on them! Completely. At least that’s what the Bible means by trust.
Illustration: Boating on the Chesapeake Bay
One family was filled with skilled boaters and water-skiers.
They often skied not on nice, glassy lakes but on the huge, choppy Chesapeake Bay.
To one preschool nephew, however, the experience was absolutely horrifying.
It seemed to him that everyone would be thrown overboard and lost in the abyss as the boat blasted through rough seas, rolled over swells, and drove alongside massive ships.
The little toddler did the one sane and wise thing he could think to do—he laid down flat on the floor of the boat and cried for shore!
Eventually he calmed down enough to talk with relatives, play with toys, eat his snacks—but all from the floor of the boat.
To him it was the only safe spot on the water.
Many times we think wisdom is found through reading the bible---and knowing as many scriptures as you can cram in your brain cavity—or being bible smart like in the game we played earlier.
Or often we look at other Christians to see how they are living and see what they do in their relationship with Christ.
Often we end up like the toddler crying that they just don’t feel good doing what others are doing and feel like they have failed.
Wisdom is seeking what strength in your life God chooses to relate to you best—and customized to your life with Him.
You can’t have wisdom and not do anything with it.
If you learn all about love—then you need to start loving, if you learn all about forgiveness---then you need to start forgiving.
You’re not rewarded for wisdom just because you know it, but because you use it.
(Insert here a time of when you trusted God with all your heart and He opened a door for you to reward you for your faith)
2. Wisdom is rejecting your own wisdom—even when you think you’re right.
Scripture reread Proverbs 3:5-6 (“Lean not on your own understanding.”)
Illustration: Gumball
Show students an ordinary gumball, explaining that there’s an art to fitting into the world—especially a world with gum.
We can chew gum, blow bubbles with it, even use it as a sticky adhesive if we’re desperate.
But unwise people make a mess of gum, like the little girl who stuck it in her hair.
At first she tried pulling it out. Then rubbing it out. When that didn’t work, she tried shampooing it out. But her best efforts only made matters worse.
By the time she finally told her parents, it looked like a small rodent had built a nest on the side of her head.
It took her father an hour—working with a special solvent—to finally rid her of the gum.
When it was all over, there was just a little solvent left in the bottle.
The little girl exclaimed, “Oh, good! Now we have some left in case it happens again!”
Sometimes, we just don’t “get it”!
We all make a mess of things when we lean on our own understanding. And it only gets worse when we don’t learn from the messes we create.
So often what seems best to us is the worst to God; what makes sense to us is senseless to him.
We use God’s loving and forgiving grace like the solvent in the story…we get in tight situations (trouble in school, with our parents, with our boyfriend/girlfriend, with our friends) and pray and hope God pulls us out of that situation.
Eventually, the bottle runs out if that situation keeps happening.
God is justice, and sometimes you may need to cut a wad of hair off to get rid of the gumball, just as God lets the consequences of our sin take it’s toll on us.
Wisdom is recognizing something that works well.
Understanding is seeing how it will work well for you.
Knowledge is the ability to show someone else how it works.
3. Wisdom is respecting God and repenting of evil.
Scripture Proverbs 3:7-8
According to the Bible wisdom begins with fearing God (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; 15:33). Fear is a mixture of horror and honor—being afraid and being in awe.
Illustration: Power Lunch
Imagine having the opportunity to lunch with your biggest celebrity hero or with a great world leader.
You’re thrilled and terrified at the same time.
You want to know this person better, but you don’t want to mess up at the same time.
This person is important, so it’s not time for belching your ABC’s, gurgling through a straw, or seeing if you can trip the waiter, or saying something stupid.
In some ways God deserves this same respect. And he gets it—just look at Bible stories where God reveals his presence with people. People are hitting the dirt, bowing with their faces to the ground.
Illustration: The Sergeant and the General
Following basic training, Butch was assigned to a divisional motor pool.
Meanwhile General Collins was promoted to major general and became the commanding officer of Butch’s division.
Because of his reputation, Butch was eventually selected to be the general’s driver. Butch had mixed emotions about this new assignment.
He relished the confidence shown in him; on the other hand he remembered those cold, steely eyes on that memorable inspection day back in boot camp.
Awe once again gripped him as he reported for duty the first day.
Sergeant McGregor, as Butch was now called, soon discovered that behind those steely blue eyes was a no-nonsense general who was tough but fair.
As he listened to the general’s conversations with other officers riding in the car, Butch was often amazed at the general’s evident wisdom and military skill.
He also noted the increased morale and esprit de corps that the general’s leadership gave to the entire division.
His awe for the general actually increased, though its dominant aspect was no longer fear but respect and admiration.
Of course Butch had always shown respect toward the general. That was absolutely essential to his job.
But now he felt respect. He genuinely admired the general for both his personal character and his military leadership.
One day he realized he had even begun to like the general, and he was fairly certain the general liked him.
Despite this growing personal relationship, though, Butch never lost his sense of awe toward the general.
He was always conscious of the vast difference in rank between them.
Even in casual conversation he always addressed the general as “Sir.”
In the course of time war broke out, and Butch’s division was shipped overseas.
As the general’s driver, Butch was never involved in actual combat, though they often traveled in dangerous territory.
Then one day the car struck a land mine. General Collins was thrown clear of the car, but was seriously hurt when his body slammed to the ground.
Butch, meanwhile, remained trapped in the front seat of the burning vehicle.
Despite the general’s own injuries, and at the risk of his life, he managed to pull Butch out of the car to safety.
Butch remained in the hospital for weeks. Despite the pressures of commanding a division in battle, the general often stopped by to see Butch and check on his progress.
Butch was surprised at the general’s obvious concern, but what really astounded him was the realization that at the scene of the accident, the general had literally risked his life to save him.
The general’s continued visits made him realize the rescue was not simply a spur-of-the-moment heroic act but was prompted by the general’s heartfelt concern for him.
Butch often pondered the question, “Why would a two-star general, in command of a Marine division in battle, risk his own life to save a mere sergeant?”
He could readily understand one enlisted Marine risking his life for his buddy on the battlefield—but a general for a sergeant?
He slowly came to the conclusion that, despite their vast difference in rank, the general genuinely loved him.
Now, in addition to his sense of awe, respect, and admiration, Butch began to experience love and gratitude toward the general.
He longed for the day he could once again be the general’s driver.
He determined that he would be the best driver a Marine general ever had.
But he also realized that however much he and the general loved each other, they would never be buddies.
It would always be a “yes, sir” and “no, sir” relationship.
That’s how both General Collins and Sergeant McGregor would want it.
God isn’t a person to be taken lightly or treated casually. Sure, he loves us. But he’s God—the one who created the universe—the one who created you and know you in your mommy’s tummy (Psalm 139:13-14)
Real respect for God means recognizing He deserves our total commitment—and ignoring his principles brings consequences.
It also means trusting His way is best and believing He sets boundaries or “fence posts” on our behavior so we won’t cross the line and ruin our own joy and happiness.
The Devil Made Me Do It
When we decide to ignore God’s wisdom, the enemy has watchful eyes---just as last week you learned that the enemy can disguise himself as an angel of light to lure you into pushing the “snooze” button.
When Adam and I discuss issues with you, we always give you a fair statement by saying why do you expect to see results when you haven’t changed.
When we let the enemy take advantage of us, he sets up strongholds in our life.
So many times when we think we have demons attacking us, it’s just simply a stronghold Satan has set up long ago in our life and we haven’t the wisdom to see it yet.
Explain with crossing the room with scattered chairs in the way as an example of how Satan puts strongholds in our lives.
By Walking In Wisdom, God let’s you see the areas of your life that the enemy has placed strongholds in---so you can begin to tear them down through the power of the Holy Spirit.
As you gain Wisdom to see the obstacles or strongholds that the enemy has left for you, you can begin to see how easy it is to move where you want to go instead of stubbing your toe or hopping over the obstacle.
Closing:
Point #1: Wisdom is relying on God’s strength.
Point #2: Wisdom is rejecting your own wisdom.
Point #3: Wisdom is respecting God and repenting of evil.
If you are wise, PEOPLE around you will:
Learn to respect your views, your judgment, and YOU.
Turn to you for help.
Be influenced by you.
Look up to you and admire you.
If YOU are wise:
You will make better decisions.
Your plans will turn out to produce better results.
Your confidence in yourself will grow with each wise decision.
You will respect yourself more.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in developing wisdom through your character than making sure life is comfortable for you.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character in Christ likeness.
Wisdom is the golden key that Gods gives us to do that with
God didn’t put us on earth just to fulfill a to-do list.
He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.
What If? The Big Picture
In what areas of life do you tend to "get gum in your hair" or run into walls by not fitting yourself into the world?
What if you started trusting in God with all your heart? What is the first step you need to do it? How would you do it?
It’s so natural to lean on our own understanding. To do things the way we think they should be done.
Part of fearing God is recognizing that His discipline is nothing to mess around with.
What could you do to bring your attitude into alignment with this truth?
What if we allowed the fear of God to shape our minds? How would the fear of God impact the way you live now?
Or…has God’s love and free grace has diminished our respect for Him because you know He’s a loving and forgiving God?
After hearing about wisdom tonight, will you walk any different tomorrow at school?
A wise person learns by the experience of others.
An ordinary person learns by his own experience.
A fool learns by nobody’s experience.
Which are you?
