May 31 - Proverbs 14:1-16:33

Good morning everyone,

Well, we continue to work our way through the wise words of Solomon. Gosh there are so many “one liners” with no real flow other than “wisdom vs folly” that each morning I find myself wondering where God is going to lead me, what is it He’ll want put out there. When we were following David and Solomon it was easy to expound on where they were in their lives but here in Proverbs it is not so clear. It is a great exercise in waiting on the Lord. As I sit here, I got nothin’, one could even say I am just babbling, waiting for the Lord to kick in at any second now with what He wants said; and I’ll wait because we all know that to go before the Lord always ends in disaster. Agreed?

Okay … let’s go to chapter 15:15 where it says, “All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” Feast? I love to eat! But what this is telling us is that our attitudes, in any situation, affects our whole personality.

No matter the trials that come our way, it is up to us on how we react to
them. We can either murmur and complain because we believe the problems
are too difficult to overcome, or not fair, or we just plain don’t like them or … or we can choose, friends get this, we can choose, we can choose to be cheerful and know that we will be well equipped to face and overcome every obstacle that comes our way. Have you ever been in the company of a baby, a child or even an adult who is not happy, maybe even angry for one reason or another and throwing a big hissy at you and then a bottle is offered, or a friend knocks at the door or the phone rings and instantly, instantly they take on a whole different countenance and proceed with a polite, “Oh hi, (cheerful face), doing great, you about you.” Clearly a choice.

So, of the choices above, I choose the second option at all times (well at least try to) because faith does not work in the presence of a complaining spirit. We cannot expect to be overcomers in life when all we do is see the negatives and reasons why something can't be done. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to think through or do a project with someone and with every suggestion you are met with a, “hmmm … ( you need to say this in your very best eeyore voice), wel-l-l, that won’t work …..” We must change our viewpoint and see things in a positive light. Psalm 28:7 says “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” Right? When we change our mindset and choose to have an easy-going and cheerful attitude, we will find our problems being solved with much less stress and worry and our hearts will be filled with peace because we chose to trust the Lord and not depend on ourselves. Let go and let God!

Our attitudes, in any situation, affects our whole personality. God is clear that during our lives, we will experience our fair share of labors, cares, and tribulations. And still He tells us that a cheerful heart does us good. Which means it must be possible! Right? Habakkuk 3:17-19 tells us, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” YET … I will be joyful in God my Savior. Amen?

Have a super good day to God be the glory.

Gd bless you all …