week 2: take it!

Take It! -

This guide and all original content was developed by Rev. Chris Heckert. Other sources and references are cited throughout the guide and are the works of those individuals.

Week 2: Take It!For the week of October 13, 2019

Take It! -

Series Purpose The purpose of this session is to explore how movement can be an important part of the discernment process. By taking steps, even if baby steps, good decisions can come into clearer view, and we are better able to discern the right direction. Using Proverbs 16 as a starting point, we will look at how God can guide our footsteps while they are in motion.

Welcome your group. Light a candle to begin your time together. Take a moment for silent reflection (up to one minute), then invite someone in the group to open with this prayer:

“Thank you, God, for bringing us to this place. As we share our thoughts, hopes, and plans, steer our movements and guide our steps so that we may live into who you have created us to be. Be present in this place. Amen.”

Go around your group and share your responses to the following conversation starter:

Share a historic, public, or famous person whose success story includes wrong decisions or detours along their way.

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Invite someone to read Proverbs 16:1-9 aloud:

Proverbs 16:1-9

1The plans of the mind belong to mortals,but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. 2All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.3Commit your work to the Lord,and your plans will be established. 4The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.5All those who are arrogant are an abomination to the Lord;be assured, they will not go unpunished. 6By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.7When the ways of people please the Lord,he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them. 8Better is a little with righteousness than large income with injustice.9The human mind plans the way,but the Lord directs the steps.

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In response to the Scripture you read as a group, use these questions to reflect upon what the text is saying:

Questions:

1. According to verse 2, what does it mean, “the Lord weighs the spirit”?

2. When we make decisions, are we always aware of our motivations?

3. Based on verse 9, what is the correlation between human planning and God’s directing?

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When you come to a fork in the road, take it! — Yogi Berra

One thing that can paralyze us when we face big decisions is fear - fear of making the wrong decision, fear of what we may lose out on, or simply the fear of change. 1 John 4:18 says, “perfect love casts out [all] fear.” Sometimes, simply moving forward is one of the best ways to get unstuck and gain clarity. However, this can mean at first making a decision that does not work out or quickly becomes clear is not the best solution.

Questions:

1. How do you rebound from a misstep or bad decision? 2. Share an experience you have had in which a wrong turn ultimately led back to the right path. 3. What can help us move away from fear and passivity towards trusting action even if there is risk involved?

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How do we know when to act, when to wait? How will we know when it is our time to lead rather than our time to follow? Discernment calls us to spiritual understanding but also to action. We first seek God’s presence, listen to the books, people, and signs in daily life, and explore vocation; but then there is always a moment when we must choose and step out.

Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird, Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life, (New

York, New York: Harper Collins, 2013), 145.

Ask someone to read aloud from this excerpt from “Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life” by Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird, and then answer the following question:

Question:

1. In what ways can we root ourselves spiritually so, that in action or inaction, we may be able to both discern and adapt if we find ourselves on the wrong path?

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Take some time to share prayer requests. Then close your group by reading the following prayer by Thomas Merton together:

Thoughts in Solitude My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

week 2: take it!

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