faith, fact and advice…

so how do you make wise decisions?  pray for guidance and then get the facts.

there is no contradiction between faith and fact, finding out all you can before you make a decision.  proverbs 13.16 (niv), every prudent man acts out of knowledge.  get the facts.  how stupid to decide before knowing the facts!  proverbs 18.13 (tlb). 

ninety percent of all new businesses fail within the first year.  and of those that make it, 90% fail within the next five years.  why?  they’re based on what could be called, uneducated enthusiasm.  they’ve got a great idea but they don’t get the facts.  that’s why a lot of marriages fail – they are based on uneducated enthusiasm – love. 

ask:  what do i need to know before i make this decision? 

also ask for advice.  talk to somebody who’s made a similar decision, talk to friends who know your weaknesses, ask for advice.  proverbs 24.6 (tev), the more good advice you get, the more likely you are to win. 

henry ford, founder of ford motor company, was asked, “what's the secret of success.”  he said experience?  how do you get experience?  he said, “from making stupid decisions.”

it is wise to learn from experience, but it is wiser to learn from the experience of others.  ask for advice.  i don’t have time to learn everything from personal experience.  i don’t have time to make all the mistakes in life and you don’t either.  life is too short to learn everything by trial and error.  i don’t have to look at certain sins and know they’re bad for me, i can see the results in other people’s lives.  you can learn from others’ successes and you can learn from others’ failures.  if you’re wise, you don’t try to learn everything first hand, you learn from the experiences of others.  the bible says that we’re given these stories in the bible that we can learn from and grow.  you learn to ask for advice.

the bible says, get good advice and you will succeed.  proverbs 20.18 (tev). 

now the problem is that we would rather appear wise than be wise.  we think if we ask we’ll look like a dunce.  but it’s more important to be wise than appear wise.  the bible says, wise people ask for advice. 

if you can’t ask for advice you’ve got an ego problem.  the bible says, arrogant people are stupid.  they are stupid because they're unwilling to be teachable.  if you can’t learn you’ll never succeed in life.  all of us are ignorant, just on different subjects.  that’s why we need to ask each other and help each other out.  the bible says, wisdom and humility go together. 

ask:  what kind of advice do i need to make this decision?

just a thought from the front porch…