Series: Wisdom That Works
Message: What a Life of Shalom Looks Like
Preacher: Dany Hernandez
Reflection: Mark Witas
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Jessyka Dooley
Live Beyond: J. Murdock
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Proverbs 3:1-8 in the New International Version (NIV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.

Reflect: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil” (Proverbs 3:7)

Being wise in our own eyes, if not checked, can lead to deflating humiliation. 

I was speaking at a faculty colloquy for an Adventist University and I was trying to make the point that not everybody sees things the same way. Perception is as important as reality when it comes to interpreting our surroundings. To do this, I gave every faculty member a piece of paper with a sentence on it. I told them there were a variety of sentences on the papers (which wasn’t true—but they didn’t know that) and that they were to keep their papers face down, and only look at the sentences when I instructed them to do so. Everybody cooperated. 

When all the slips of paper with the sentences were handed out, I asked them to turn their papers over, read their sentences once and then turn them over again so that they couldn’t see them. They did.

I had them do it again, “OK, turn your sentences over and read them again.” They did. 

The third time I asked them to turn their papers over and count the number of “f’s” in their sentences. After they were done, they must turn their sentences over again so that they couldn’t be seen. They followed my directions. 

Finally, I asked them, “How many of you only had one “f” in your sentence? No hands were raised. 

“How many of you had two f’s? Of the 60 or so people in the room, ten raised their hands. 

“How many of you had three f’s? Eighty percent of the faculty members raised their hands. 

“Four f’s? A smattering. 

“Five f’s? Another smattering.

“Six f’s? Just a few.

Then I announced the hook. “You all have the same sentence. I told you you didn’t, but you do. You all have the same sentence in front of you. Let’s try it again.

I had them turn their sentences over and had them read them again. I went through the succession of one f, two f’s, three f’s, four f’s, five f’s, and six f’s. Still, hands went up for each number. Then I announced, “All of you have six f’s in your sentence. Nobody’s sentence is different. Go ahead and turn your sentences over and find all six f’s.”

It took a while, but all the faculty members but one found all six  f’s. The one? The chair of the psychology department. He insisted that his sentence was different and that he only had three f’s. In fact, he stood up and boldly declared, “If I have six f’s in my sentence, I’ll do pushups and sing the national anthem in front of all my colleagues!”

Here was the sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Go ahead, count the f’s. 

When we read phonetically, we don’t count the f’s in the word “of.” It sounds like a “v” and our brain tells us as much. At the end of the day, the head of the psychology department did his push-ups, sang the anthem, and ate crow. 

Being wise in our own eyes can be a debilitating mistake. Humility and being open to the wisdom of others is a much better approach to life. 

Recalibrate: Share with someone a time in your life when you insisted you were right and in the end, found out you were wrong. What did you learn from that experience?

Respond: Pray these words: “Lord Jesus, help me to see that others may have a different view of any given topic. Help me to honor and value them and their views, even though they may be different than mine.” 

Research: Read The Sin of Certainty by Peter Enns.

Remember: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 3:3, ICB).

Mark Witas is the lead pastor at Sunnyside Adventist Church in Portland, Oregon.

Using a magnifying glass or a phone (one that you can take a photo then zoom in), go exploring for little things—things that you can hardly see like ants and the fur on leaves. We hardly notice them but they are real. What can you see when you zoom in? Things look different when we take a closer look. Know that God sees all, from the smallest things to the biggest things. With your little one pray today that you will have eyes to see the world how Jesus does, with eyes of love. Have fun exploring.

Read these next verses out loud. “Trust in the Lord with all you heart. Don’t depend on your own understanding. Remember the Lord in everything you do and he will give you success” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Make a list of all the people you trust. Go through your list one person at a time and answer the question, “Why do I trust them?” When it comes to trusting God it can be tricky because we can’t really see Him or hear Him like we see and hear the people on our lists. One of the ways we can learn to trust God is to see how He has taken care of us and other people in the past. What are some Bible stories you can think of where God has taken care of someone even when it looked like something bad would happen? What are some stories in your life where God has taken care of you?

When I was in high school I went on a mission trip to build a house for a family in Mexico. When we arrived at the site where the house would stand, the only thing on the lot was a square of concrete and a pile of wood. We only had three days to turn this foundational slab of cement and stack of lumber into a house with walls, a roof, doors, and an electrical wiring system to bring light into the home. To make this happen, we had twelve teenagers and a youth pastor. 

If left alone to our own devices, there is a good chance this house would have only remained standing for a few days before it collapsed in on itself! Fortunately, we also had two local contractors who knew how to build strong and sturdy houses. With their guidance, we used all three days efficiently and wound up putting together a house with a fresh coat of paint, doors that swung on the hinges properly, and a roof that didn’t leak! 

When we began, it was hard to think that a bunch of two-by-fours could soon become a house. But we trusted the instructions of our leaders, believed that God would see us through, and listened to the teachings of our contractors who told us just what to do to make that wood into a home.

Proverbs 3:5 says that we should do the same with our faith through God: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

What is something big in your life that seems impossible right now? How might putting your full trust in the Lord help you overcome the challenge?

What does success look like to you? Does it look like position? Money? Things? Ask yourself the hard question: What does it look like? Chances are your answer is shaped heavily by the world’s definition of success. The world says have a big house, a good looking spouse, lots of money, and a big position and you will be happy. But does that really make us happy? If you are like me, you may need to figure things out on your own. But if you want to save yourself some heartache, listen to the Word of God. Proverbs tells us that we find favor and success when we have love and faithfulness. Those two things are the complete opposite of the world’s version of success. Everything about the world’s version is about what “I” can get for “me.” Yet, the road marked out by Scripture is very different. Success is when we are faithful to God and love Him and others. When we have those things we are then considered successful. I have learned that the way of Jesus to living a successful life is not just more fulfilling, but it is so much easier. Whatever expectations are on your life I want to encourage you to know that God’s only expectation is that you have a faithful, loving relationship with Him. He doesn’t need your As or Ds. He doesn’t need you to be a starter on the soccer team. He isn’t looking for you to be the best musician. He just wants to know you and love you, and in return He wants you to love others. Now I don’t know about you, but that seems to me a life worth living.

Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
Jessyka Dooley is assistant youth director for the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Denver, Colorado.
J. Murdock is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, where he focuses on youth and young adult ministry.
Kyle Smith is associate pastor of youth and family ministries at New Haven Adventist Church in Overland Park, Kansas.