James 1:5-8

"If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask it from God, who gives generously to all men and never casts up the gift, and it will be given to him. Let him ask in faith, with no doubts in his mind; for he who oscillates between doubts is like a surge of the sea, wind-driven and blown hither and thither. Let not that man think that he will receive anything form the Lord, a man with a divided mind, inconsistent in all his ways."

A definition of wisdom from the Websters dictionary is "the ability to understand what is right, true or enduring; good judgement; knowledge"

When we ask God for wisdom we need to remember 2 things mentioned in the Barclay commentary.

1. That God gives generously, and will never cast up/take back the gifts (wisdom)
Also, that God is the only one who can give us wisdom. Working on wisdom is an on-going process it is not just a flick of a switch and suddenly you are wise. It takes being in the Word, and in prayer.  And  Proverbs 13:20 says "whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." So we need to discern who we spend time with, because we tend to become like the people around us.

For me, I need to chose my friends wisely, by paying attention to: what movies they watch, what video games they play, how they dress (generally how you dress portrays what you are like. But that is not true for all people) also how they talk, (What they say when they are "joking around") and if they are disrespectful to their authority, parents, siblings, friends.

2. And we need to remember how to ask.
We need to ask with confidence. We also need to know Gods power, and his desire/willingness to give. There is a fine line between confidence and pride, it is very important to discern the difference. For me, I need to be consistent with my prayer, and bible reading. I struggle with using my time wisely, and being in the word as often as I could, because there are things that seem more fun to do in the moment, such as playing guitar, video games, movies, etc.

Do Hard Things Chapter 8-

Small Hard Things-

Hard things don't always have to be that big, most often they are small everyday things. For me some small hard things are thinking of others first, being cheerful when I do not feel like it, helping out around the house when I want to do something else, etc.  Even the little things are important because they can add up to big things. If I do these small things, think of others first, be cheerful when I don't feel like it, help out around the house when I really want to do something else, it makes harder things easier because I am learning and practicing the right response in the small situations first and I am growing!

 But small hard things can become harder than they need to be especially when excuses are made like "these things are not that hard.....I can wait a little longer to get this done" "this is just a little thing, what will this even change??" and "this seems really small compared to what he/she is doing" those are examples of excuses of how small hard things can get pushed off and ignored. If I am not thinking of other first, then it will become easier and easier for me to be more selfish, if I am not cheerful....grumpy around the house then it will make it harder for others around me and it is easier for me to slip into a bad attitude. That's just a small example of how some small things can grow into bigger problems making them even harder to fix and keeping you from what you could be!

I encourage you to start doing small hard things, whatever they are for you (and not forget about them) I listed only a few of my small things but I can think of many more I need to work on! Because we can't just all of a sudden start doing amazing, super hard things, it takes time and effort to get to that point. So why wait until later, or give it a chance to grow into a bigger hard thing to work on???? Start now!

Next chapter.....Taking A Stand

Do Hard Things Chapter 7-

The Power of Collaboration-

In this post I am going to talk about collaboration/teamwork. It is when a group of people come together to accomplish a common goal, it can make the job/task easier, faster, and finished better, than if you were doing it alone. It has been said “A horse by itself can pull 2,500 pounds, so it would be expected that two horses could pull 5,000 pounds, but two horses together can pull over 12,000 pounds. That’s more than four times the weight that one horse alone can pull.” That’s a good example of collaboration and teamwork.

Some simple personal examples are, doing the laundry, making dinner, yard work, cleaning up the house, collecting the garbage etc. all of these tasks get finished faster, and easier when you have a team to accomplish the goal. Those are small personal examples.

When it comes to doing real hard things, there are some questions we need to ask ourselves. Is my idea directed by God, what do my parents think about this idea, who should be leading, what can I do to advance this idea, who else can help, how much do I care about this idea, and am I going to quit. (Will I see it through?) That being said, it is important to make wise decisions in who we team up with. Proverbs 13:20 “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” otherwise they could drop out and leave you with tasks you cannot do by yourself, which could ruin the hard thing you are trying to do.

Also, don’t overlook your family’s advice and assistance; don’t be afraid to use computers/technology to advance your goal. Be open to hearing what others think could benefit your idea/goal. Give credit to the people who deserve it. Be prepared for problems. (Because something will definitely go wrong at some point..be flexible) and most of all, don’t give up! Because eventually, success will happen....even if you cannot see how, or who will succeed.

So teaming up with others can help you accomplish things way too big to do by yourself. Once someone starts, more people might join in. Why wait to get started??

Next chapter......Small Hard Things