Circumstances reveal opportunities to the person who has his or her sail set while hides them from negative thinkers! Real winners win when everyone else is losing!

In Matthew 16:4, Jesus rebuked the religious thinkers of His day. They knew how to read natural signs but hadn’t ever developed their hearts to read the spiritual signs.

He said, Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. We must develop a heart that can discern the practical and the spiritual.

We must ask all the right questions. If you’re not asking questions, you’re just trying to talk yourself into something. Here are a few questions I must ask:

1. Have I invested in my knowledge of this goal?

2. Do I have the wisdom of God’s Word?

3. Have I written the vision and the plan?

4. Have I counted the cost? (Until I know what I’m giving up, I haven’t counted the cost!)

5. Do I know what the obstacles will be?

6. What are my resources?

7. Do I have a budget?

8. Are there people who will need to help me?

9. Do I need to be surrounded by different people?

Asking these practical questions helps us develop our heart for wisdom. It helps us to become discerning. There is no substitute for asking the tough questions. Asking the hard questions gives us true insight.

A wise person gets known for insight (Proverbs 16:21, TMB). Insight is the ability to see into a situation. Insight sees both the good and the bad, the advantage and the disadvantage.

Counsel is the place to ask the hard questions. Counsel isn’t when someone tells us what do or attempts to make choices for us. Also, it rarely comes in the form of counseling. Counsel is best found at the feet of those who have succeeded at endeavors that are similar to our own.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12, KJV). The best counsel in the world comes from our mentors, those people to whom we have given permission to speak into our lives about a particular subject.