Reflection Options  

Journal  (reflect on one or more of these questions)

• If you encountered a problem in the next few minutes that required wisdom you didn’t have, what would your instinctual response be? Where would you turn? Maybe this would be different for different kinds of problems--imagine several scenarios and your answer to them.

• What holy habits have you nurtured in your own life to develop the mindset of Christ in decision making?  Journal about some that seem to have been helpful and one you would like to develop.  

• Who are your wise counselors? Why have you chosen them? Who would you like to ask to be someone you can bounce ideas or decisions off of? Write them a letter or have a conversation with them.

• Journal about an area where you need wisdom.  Then a) wait silently to see if the Lord might want to speak to you about that area, b) search for scriptures that might relate to that area, c) examine your internal response to moving one way or another on that decision, d) talk through all of these with your mentor.

Quote Interaction (Interact by agreeing, disagreeing or otherwise engaging with the quote/quotes)

• If you wish to know God, you must know his Word. If you wish to perceive His power, you must see how He works by his Word. If you wish to know His purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by His Word.  (Charles Spurgeon)

• Where I found truth, there found I my God, who is the truth itself.  (Augustine)

• God has hidden every precious thing in such a way that it is a reward to the diligent, a prize to the earnest, but a disappointment to the slothful soul. All nature is arrayed against the lounger and the idler. The nut is hidden in its thorny case; the pearl is buried beneath the ocean waves; the gold is imprisoned in the rocky bosom of the mountains; the gem is found only after you crush the rock which encloses it; the very soil gives its harvest as a reward to the laboring farmer. So truth and God must be earnestly sought.   (A.B. Simpson)

Exercises from the book, Shaping The Journey of Emerging Adults: 

• Consider this quote (p. 123): “Learning to stay connected with reality involves being dependent on the Holy Spirit and staying rooted in the perspectives and truths of Christ.” How does this statement connect with “finding wisdom” for you?

• Read “Provide correction…” and “Challenge unawareness…” (pp. 120-121, also see “Be a truth teller” p. 137). How comfortable are you with providing correction or challenge as a pathway to wisdom for another? How receptive are you to receiving correction or challenge as a pathway to becoming wise?  What holds you back?

• Read “Everyday Priorities” (pp. 194-195). How can a daily “consultation” with God on everyday matters increase your ability to live wisely.  How is a “consultation” prayer different than the way you normally pray?

• MENTOR: Read “Listening to God for Others” (pp. 86-88).  How can “listening to God” be a pathway to wisdom in this relationship? Are you better at “consent” listening or “dual” listening? How can you improve?

• MENTOR: Read “Strategies for Effective Reflection” (pp. 104-105).  How could these ideas provide you with a pathway to wisdom? Pick one to focus on this week and then share your experience with the strategy.