I've been reading only a chapter at a time and meditating on it, asking God to speak to my heart through His Word...and He has!! (Really, I shouldn't be surprised, because He said that He would.) There are so many wonderful nuggets of truth in the Proverbs - I think sometimes we read too quickly and miss taking these precepts to heart.
So here's a few of my reflections from Proverbs 19 and 20...
Proverbs 19:3 says that the foolishness of man causes his heart to fret against the Lord. I believe God is saying through this verse that when we worry, we're not fretting over circumstances, but rather against Him, who is sovereign over every aspect of our lives. Puts a different spin on worry and reminds me of the other Biblical commandments regarding anxiety...
Proverbs 19:8 is a profound verse...stating that the pursuit of wisdom is not merely an intellectual act, but a spiritual one also. And also that keeping understanding - especially the understanding and insight that God gives us by His Word and His Holy Spirit - will help us find good.
Proverbs 19:11 cut me to the quick because this is so opposite to our natural human inclination. We would rather judge a transgression than "pass over it," but to practice this is to reflect a little of what God is like -- because He is patient with us, deferring His anger, and passes over our transgressions with His divine grace.
Proverbs 19:17 - it truly is important to God how we treat the poor...Jesus declared in Matthew 25 that whatever we do to those who are considered "the least" we are doing unto Him. I think this applies to everyone -- if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus and we follow Him, then whatever we do for anyone, ultimately we are doing for Him. And God is the One who will repay us out of His bountiful grace if we do good to others for His sake.
Proverbs 19:21 struck me...it doesn't matter what we plan for in our hearts, God's purposes will stand. So because of this - if we choose to surrender our plans to His purposes, ultimately we will find great joy and fulfilment.
Proverbs 20:3 -- it's true that it pleases God when we choose not to fight or argue or cause strife, but if I truly believed it to be an "honour" to cease from strife, it would change my attitude greatly, because I want to live an honourable life.
Proverbs 20:6 is a simple but challenging admonition - rather than talking to everyone about ourselves (our good deeds, character, etc), we need to just be faithful with what God gives us to do.
Proverbs 20:12 - at first glance, this verse seems to be a reminder to give thanks to God for our hearing and sight, but I believe it goes deeper than that. Since the Lord has made both our ears with hearing and our eyes with sight, we should seek to only listen to and look at the things that please Him...as that would bring Him honour for the great gift that He gave us.
Proverbs 20:22 - it is not for us to get revenge and ensure that judgment is meted out for evil...we are to wait on the Lord and He will save us. This is hard to do when we see so much injustice and wrong around us, but if we truly know in our hearts that our God "is mighty to save," then we can wait on and trust in Him.
Proverbs 20:24 is very profound - basically, God has laid out our days and our steps for us, so we should never think that we are in control of our lives, but daily ask God to show us His way and what His will is for our lives.
And finally, verse 29 -- Scripture makes it very clear that gray hair is beautiful. Why then do we fight so against it? If a gray head is beautiful on an older man, wouldn't it be the same for a woman also? Can we not believe God's Word and thank Him for the beauty of growing older? We can choose to be frustrated by the aging process and what we no longer have, or we can be thankful for the days that God has given us.
Lord, please remind me to always walk in integrity, no matter what I do.
Help me to seek wisdom and keep the understanding You have given me, to use discretion both in words and actions and to forgive transgressions.
May I not become lazy or complacent - as this does not reflect well on a servant of the Lord - but to do everything as unto You. Help me to have pity and compassion on the poor, to accept counsel and instruction and to discard advice that does not match Your truth.
I want to trust You, to wait for Your salvation and to seek You in everything I do.
May I always be thankful for the days You have given me, rather than wishing for something else. And most of all Lord, help me to continually surrender the plans in my own heart to You so that You can truly lead me in the way you would have me go. In Jesus' name, amen.
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