What has life taught you? I’ve known people who went through life and never ever seemed to learn life lessons. They just made the same mistakes over and over and never seemed to gain any wisdom.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).
Recognizing you lack the wisdom you need is step one, praying for wisdom is step two, and learning from your experiences, mistakes, journey, and from other people is step three in becoming a wise person. Here are some life lessons I’d like to pass along to you.
Life Lesson No. 1: When you don’t know what to do, just take the next small step.
Life is full of turning points, small and large; times when you must make a decision but you’re not sure about it. I’m not talking about black and white decisions, things that are clearly right or wrong. But other decisions like: Should I look for a new job? Should I offer to give this person some money? Is it time to sell my house?
Of course, prayer is our first order of business when we’re faced with decisions, and it’s always helpful to seek advice from trusted advisors. But I’ve often found if I take the next small step and then see where that leads, I can usually tell whether it is the right thing or not. And sometimes I discover there really is no next small step; I would have to push and shove and maneuver to get to that next step. That’s always a red flag for me that says, “Slow down; make sure this is a good step to take.”
When I first believed God was leading me to begin this radio ministry, many years ago now, after praying about it for a few months, I remember thinking, “You’ve prayed about this for a long time now. Isn’t it time for you to do something?” So, I made the first small step—a phone call that opened a door and began the process of beginning The Christian Working Woman program in August of 1984. As the Chinese proverb reminds us, every long journey begins with the first step.
I think many people park-out at the starting line, thinking about what they might do, wanting to do something, but because of fear or double-mindedness, they never move. James says a double-minded person is unstable in all her ways (James 1:8). Double mindedness is that state of mind where you go back and forth and back and forth, but you never move forward!
Reminds me of one of the Tater Family members. Dick Tater is the Father, but the one I’m thinking about is Hessie Tator. Hessie always intends to do something, but she hesitates and never takes the first step. You really don’t want to be a Hessie Tater, so, don’t be afraid to take that first step and see where it leads.
Life Lesson No. 2: If you will live in today, rather than yesterday or tomorrow, you can make it!
Jesus said, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:30). Most of our stress and depression comes because we live either in the past, with regrets and anger, or we live in fear of the future. God gives us the strength to cope with today, but we keep adding on the past and the future and wonder why we can’t make it!
Yesterday is gone. You can’t change it; you can’t make it better.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:18-19).
If you continually dwell on the past, you will miss the new thing God wants to do for you. Yesterday is over; let it go.
Tomorrow never comes. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday! Fear of the future absolutely will stop you from the good things God has for you.
Pray daily that you will live in today, and then you’ll have the strength to make it through. It’s a matter of changing your attitude and thought patterns.
