The Lessons of Proverbs

Yesterday was the end of the Proverbs 31 day challenge and I feel I have gained new insight into God's will, but before I talk about what I learned, I want to share a success with you: The last 10 years of my life have been marked by awful allergies, including food allergies. Besides the "normal" allergies, I have a condition known as Birch-Apple Syndrome, which is a fancy way of saying I am allergic to a protein in birch trees, apples, and a few other foods, including carrots, peaches, cranberries, and soy. Over the years my tolerance for the protein has decreased and my food allergies have grown. This year my allergies have been markedly less so I thought I might reintroduce one of the foods I am allergic to (apples). I developed a plan and this last month I have taken to sampling apple slices. I had a proactive and reactive response plan in place, in addition to praying for God's blessings on their experiment. Today was my fourth exposure to apples and before taking a single bite I prayed...and I didn't have a reaction to the apple, which I ate in its entirety! While I had success today, I don't want anyone to assume they will have success too.  Allergies are very serious and a severe reaction can happen at any time so consult your doctor before trying to reintroduce any food allergen back into your diet.

Now onto Proverbs. There were a few lessons that repeated throughout Proverbs, but the one lesson that resonated with me the most was to not be quarrelsome. The idea that patience leads us to overlook an offence and prevent a quarrel, as well as the images of a quarrelsome wife, stuck out to me. Each verse that reflected these ideas felt like God poking me, "Hey you! Listen to this. Take this to heart. Learn from it!" I don't mean to be, but I am a quarrelsome person. I forgive, but I rarely overlook an offense. The truth is when I am wronged I want justice, I want the person to realize their mistake, and I want them to make amends so I can forgive them and be reconciled. But this rarely happens. More often there is a fight and a missed opportunity to show love and be loved. I need to remember love is more important. 

Proverbs 27

Proverbs 27: More Proverbs of Solomon (Cont.).

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Let someone else praise you, and your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips. Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy. Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet. The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse. A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky room in a rainstorm; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart. Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes. Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

God does not want us to boast about tomorrow because we don't know what will happen the next second, let alone tomorrow. Our trust should be in God and God's plan for tomorrow rather than our own ability to predict the future. God wants praise for us to come from someone else instead of our own lips. Our lives should be visibly changed because of God's presence. If we have to prove to others our lives have changed than they likely haven't changed. God wants us to rebuke our friends out of love because wounds from a friend can be trusted, but to be wary of the kisses of an enemy. God warns about not seeing danger and taking refuge, as well as loudly blessing a neighbor early in the morning. It seems obvious to take refuge when there is danger, but sometimes danger is hidden and we need wisdom to know when we would should take refuge. God warns against being quarrelsome and compares a quarrelsome wife to the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm. I think there is a belief that we can quarrel with the people closest to us because they deserve it and/or they don't have a choice about putting up with the quarrel. Our lives should reflect our heart the way a face is reflected in water. God warns us that human eyes are not satisfied. In comparing human eyes to death and destruction, we are given a consequence for eyes that are not satisfied.