Proverbs 1:28 “then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.”
We were on a 6-week mission trek through the rain forest in Central America, leaving from the mouth of the Rio Patuca at Brus Laguna, we were travelling inland towards Wampusirpie, and then we were pushing on towards Tukrum, before leaving the Patuca and setting off across the border towards Nicaragua and the Rio Coco, and the villages on that river.
One day we were planning to walk for the day from one village to the next, we had an open-air church service the night before and the whole village had turned out. So that morning we cheerfully set out on the trail heading to the next village, a day’s walk. Around 3 hours later we were deep in the rain forest, thick canopy overhead, clay sticky root-filled mud underfoot, and the humidity and heat were off the chart. We passed the same tree for the second time and we all stopped and chatted (there were 3 of us), then pushed on in a slightly different direction, when about an hour later we came face to face with the same very recognisable tree again. It was official we were lost, behind schedule by several hours now, and could not see our way forwards.
None of us wanted to be stuck in this situation overnight for sure. If you have ever been in the rain forests of Central America you will know that they seriously come alive at night and the level of noise can be incredible at times. That feeling of being lost, not being able to see the sky, or the river, or ahead or behind by much more than 10 meters in each direction is a unique feeling – or at least it was for me. You could call out for all your worth, and no one was going to hear you or find you.
KNOWLEDGE
If we remember in verse 24 how wisdom called out to be heard and was not, and now we cry out for wisdom to hear us. In the middle of this trauma, we could perhaps consider this a great moment for an encounter with God. A moment when hearts would return. But that is not the picture we are shown here.
There is a lot of activity on the part of those in trouble to reconnect with God – they are calling out, and are working hard to reconnect with God – but there is no mention of any change of heart. They want God in their time of trouble, they make great efforts to find him – but God says not only will he not answer them under these conditions, but they won’t at any time encounter him.
From this scripture it seems that at times God may let the consequences of their actions sit with people – they had been given every opportunity to avoid this moment, but have made different choices, and now they find themselves on their own to deal with the outcomes.
It’s an issue of the heart, not the mouth.
UNDERSTANDING: Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live? The word for the call is pronounced as “qara” in Hebrew. It’s used 728 times in the Old Testament, translated into English as words such as, called; named; given; cried; summoned; proclaim; offer; chosen, and, invited. In this verse, Proverbs 1:28 it’s as if the people mentioned are trying to summon or invite God to come as a guest for them.
WISDOM: What is God speaking to you about today that you know you should act on, but you, for some reason, are not taking the necessary actions? Do you understand the consequences?
Strengths Thought – Activator is a beautiful Influencing Strength – you may have made quick decisions, acting consistently as if there is no time for consideration or planning, rather the only methodology is leaping in at the first opportunity. You perhaps made no time to listen to anyone else, acting impulsively, leaving others disengaged and devalued.
If you stop now and consider your ways, you can create a strong call to action, mobilising others and generating healthy urgency. You can loosen the log-jam, start the stalled and release the reefed. Once something is underway you can help maintain momentum. Take time to gather input from your team, from experts and from experience.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version: [you call out and hear no response, you search everywhere and are lost.]
Prayer: Father, thank you for today. Please help me to stay close to you day by day, and to be aware and sensitive to any times when I may start to be complacent, entitled or ignorant.
Seek the Lord while He May be found comes directly to mind. In life we humans presume much. From time to time I come across a person who will say they will one day come to God but not just yet! What is that? What they’re saying is they want to live a life of sin and when life is just about at its use by date they will seek God. Trouble is the use by date is not clear!
I want to seek Him daily and find Him always in Jesus name!
This was a very difficult message to hear. I fear abandonment and often it takes considerable courage to trust others fully.
Allan
I look back on the last time I was lost and although it was the most difficult time of my life I now see it as a blessing. It allowed me to stop and finally realise I couldn’t do life on my own no matter how smart or strong I thought I was. I then made time for the lord everyday and handed over some things to him that were too big for me.
Today’s message is one of my favorites because its a good reminder of how complacent I can become where God is concerned. I regret many of my decisions as a young person because it has impacted and shaped life in many ways. The main reason because I was no equally yoked with the right type of people. God was not consulted in the choices I made as a young person. Although brought up in a Christian home I really didn’t know Him as I do now. I look back at my life and think if only I heard God’s voice back then. In hindsight God has made me who I am today. That despite my regrets I am overjoyed that God is my in life now and I put Him first. Thank you Pastor Allan for taking me on this journey with you. Thank you Jesus for loving me.
What a time to assess and evaluate. Thank you.
Inactivity is as dangerous as negligence
The quest of society it seems is to take what you want oblivious to the consequences
But our Heavenly Father’s forewarning in the verses before leads us to loss if we persist living self obsessing and with our back to him.
Teach us Lord to heed your warnings and live close to you in all seasons of our lives
To not hear the lord’s voice or feel His presence would be a scary place to live
God is always looking out for us,trying to keep us away from danger.
But the deceiver is always on the lookout to see who he can tempt and destroy.
God gives us wisdom to make great choices in our earthly lives,but too often we find ourselves giving into temptation and ignoring Gods instruction ,
Soon we are to find ourselves in a bigger mess than we imagined,
We are trapped ,
We need a way to get out ,then we remember God ,and try to call and seek him,asking him to rescue us from the pit we have got into ,
But then ,
Will God answer and rescue ????
These our the consequences of our actions .
As you mentioned pastor Allan
“Its not a matter of the mouth,but the heart”
True repentance takes place when Jesus touches your heart 🤍🤍
This is a very serious message that God is communicating through the Proverbs. I love the whole Knowledge section of this blog; it helped me better understand the meaning of this verse. The Wisdom questions are challenging but very necessary for me to ask myself.
Thanks Ps Allan 👍 God bless!
Today’s message teaches me to stay connected with God, to treat others with the respect they deserve. Take time to listen and value their advice and work with them to bring about the best outcome in any situation.
I have feel that way many times! You Cry for God’s favor and pray for things to come to past. You want to hear from God and his approval but you hear nothing! After years later you relies what you been seeking was not the God’s plan for you instead what you want!
This scripture may seem hard hearted on the part of God but from my understanding it is saying if a person decides to cry out in desperation in a great time of need after heeding no Godly wisdom before he or she reached breaking point then what use is it going to be in helping them when most likely if on getting the necessary help that they will not learn from the experience & have a change of heart but rather will keep on making the same mistakes Without true humility & seeking God wholeheartedly in our day to day to guide us we can’t expect God to work miracles for us if we’re not going to see the need for a heart check & decide to sincerely seek & include God in our life.
In this scripture I found myself seen how if I turned around and forget God his words his guidance his ways and do things my way but knowing is wrong and completely forgetting God and do things also for my benefit and then getting into trouble and then begging God for help there is a point that we rejected God and even the scripture says if we are luke warm He will live us.
I believe we hurt God and loose our souls to the point that He advice us what could happen.
Then again He send Jesus to help us restore that relationship however am I using God and not loving him with all my heart and soul.
Lord let me be faithful to you and never forget you or hurt you and just be a bit more like you
Hi Allan
Reading this scripture verse by verse can sometimes mislead what Proverbs says as I think they need to be read from 1-4.
This particular verse when reading it says God will forsake you. But read through, his basically saying when you are in sin and not obeying his law or instruction he can’t be there or interfere and you’re letting the door open for the enemy enter.
God is a just God and himself won’t go against his own word because it will make him a hypocrite.
Sometimes one wrong decision and not obeying can be a life sentence even when your forgiven by God.
This was one of my life lessons.
I want to remind myself God loves us so much that He challenges us and He doesn’t leave us where we are. He wants to see the growth in us and wants to champion us, let us experience the fullness or Him. I want to be close to Him intimate with Him every step of the way.
My heartfelt prayer is that we never become complacent. There are times when life is going smoothly, and I find myself becoming lazy in my prayer life. It makes me stop and ask, “Am I seeking God because He is God, or only because I need His help when I’m in trouble?”
Thank you, Pastor Allan, for explaining this so clearly. I don’t want to get trapped in the mindset of self-centeredness. We need God every single day and in every moment of our lives.