Proverbs 1:32 “for the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;”
There is a difference between deliberately choosing to turn away from God and when we are in the middle of a struggle – my story below is an account of a time when I was struggling.
There are moments in our Christian life when we will be confronted by hard choices. There will be times when faith and courage are being tested at the same time. God is faithful.
I remember one time when I was on a mission trip in a third world country and I went against the advice of the family I was staying with, and I went and played soccer with some of the youth. It was the middle of the day, so hot and so humid. I played for about 25 mins on what seemed to me to be the world’s hardest pitch, then I was done. That night I went down with a fever. I was not well. I was sleeping on the floor of the small church building each night.
The next day the family carried me into their house and kept putting cold cloths all over me to get my temperature down, eventually, I was shivering with the cold. I was in and out of sleep all day. At one point one of the pastor’s and his wife came to see me and woke me up and prayed with me. They were such a beautiful couple, they worked tirelessly day and night, were always smiling and always encouraging. I felt honoured that they would pray for me.
After they left I remember having such a wave of doubt come over me, I was so ill, (I had already had a stomach infection for days) had not eaten for days and felt so weak. I had a prayer with God, and I remember that I so deeply just wanted to shut my eyes, and then open them and I would be home in Scotland, in my own bed, feeling well with a good day before me. I told God that I was not sure why he would heal me, my reasoning was that with so much else going on, where there was such poverty, so much illness all around me, why would he take any interest in my fever. I told God at that moment that I was not even sure that he existed anymore.
Seconds later I felt the softest wind seem to just go through my body, afterwards I cried quietly long and hard. When I stopped crying, I felt and knew that I was well. I slowly got to my feet and walked out of the house and round to the church where everyone was. When the pastor saw me, he stopped and said to me “what a great man of faith you are!” I think I saw the humour in that statement and smiled at him. I did not have enough Spanish at that time to explain to him the fullness of what had just happened, I smiled and shook my head and took his hand to thank him.
Even in those moments when we may feel like turning away, God is able to bring us back. I love how Jesus walked through a wall to help Thomas (John 20:26-28) in his doubt. Don’t allow your heart to become hard, it’s ok to have honest doubts though.
KNOWLEDGE
Those who are so easily swayed by others, by trends, and fashions, by the need to be popular or at least seen to be popular and who have given themselves over to following the crowd end up losing the very thing they are chasing. Their choice to go in their own different direction, and not to pay any attention to the counsel offered by God, seems to them like independence, and strength, and purpose……but the end of the road is dependence, (on others, substances, popularity, fame, money, etc) weakness, and lack of direction or fulfilment. In clinging to THEIR life they lose it. Interdependence is actually the prize for maturity in God.
Some people live life with no care for others in a series of indiscretions, gossip, bullying, and anger with no sense of shame. This self-drive independence takes them eventually over the cliff edge to their own destruction. Those who have Godly wisdom (you and I) have a responsibility to those who are so easily swayed, to example the right lifestyle in words and deeds and do everything in their power to ensure these “naïve youths” who are the victims of the wicked are helped.
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 “complacency” is worth taking a pause to consider. The original Hebrew word is pronounced “salwah” and has only 8 mentions in the whole of the Old Testament. It is translated as “prosperous ease; security; and warning; as well as complacency. Here in verse 32, we pick up on the aspect of ease, that despite the warnings and guidance there is no uptake, no interest, rather those who hear but do not listen are satisfied to make ease their goal.
WISDOM: what gauge do you use for your life to measure success?
Strengths Thought – Responsibility is a beautiful Executing Strength – be careful about saying yes to too many things, and then trying to achieve it all yourself – busyness can squeeze wisdom right out of your life. You can easily become a dumping ground for other projects, your life consumed with details that seem urgent but lack importance to your destiny.
You can be trusted to do what you say you will do – therefore making great choices is beneficial. You are a valuable partner who creates trust and loyalty, people are drawn to you for help and if you engage they know they can trust you.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version: [the easily tricked lose everything by distancing themselves from wisdom, they sit thinking they are safe, believing those idiots around them they walk blindly into eternal destruction.]
Prayer: Father thank you for today. Please help me to surround myself with those people who love you, and to be open to allow them to speak into my life whenever there is a danger of drift. Thank you.
The saddest thing about being deceived is the people being deceived don’t realise it is happening. Some delight in being children of their father, the great deceiver, and going about conning people out of life. As long as they benefit, they don’t care who they hurt but they will reap what they sow. It’s vital we always keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, as it is He, via the Holy Spirit, that will lead us into all truth and life in all its abundance.
Thank you Alan for this mornings readings. The business breakthrough section is especially true for me today. To take time to re evaluate my priorities…. to encourage myself in the Lord and to trust in Him only… complacency in any area whether mind or action is definitely a killer!!
A helpful encouragement not to doubt and to keep trusting God.
I think that idea in the verse, “complacency of fools destroys them;” can be much more potent than we allow ourselves to think. Routine and discipline can be good but complacency allows familiarity to settle in and destroy the convictions we have!
What a great personal story Allan!
I can really relate to what you have spoken about.
I agree that there is a big difference in knowingly turning from God and then questioning Him during trials in our lives.
I think each has a different intention from the heart, one is completely giving up and losing hope (closing the door on God) and the other is a feeling of disappointment or wavering faith. The latter shows God we have not lost all hope and in my personal experiences He always reignites my spirit to show me He is right beside me and will never forsake me !!! Amen
Trust and loyalty !
Are two valuable qualities that go hand in hand .
I pray that God will help us to be trustworthy and loyal in all our dealings
Thank you pastor Allan .
Accountability is one of the important responsibility to maintain as a Christian. Having reliable, honest, loving friends who can speak honestly into my life.
Feelings of frustrations and anger with God happen to the best of us, but does not solve anything as He is always there and willing to rescue us if we let Him.
Trust, accountability, loyalty, discipline, honesty are key.
Thank you
“Listen. Just listen. And then obey.”
In other words, TRUST God fully.
There is no other way but to lean in, listen to what The Lord says in His word, and then trust and obey.
Thank you so much for this great reminder, Ps Allan.
Whatever may come, we ought to trust that God is in control.
I believe once a person isolates himself from being accountable & is not open to being teachable this is when the danger of independence can creep in. This in turn can lead to making wrong decisions & coming under the influence of other people who can take advantage of such naive & gullible ones particularly youth & leading them down into a pit. Once this occurs complacency can easily set in because of their foolishness . I believe it is our responsibility to be honest & upstanding Christians who can be good witnesses for Christ & be available to reach out to such ones as these if we have opportunities to guide & help them to a better future.
Allan
Thankyou again for sharing y our story I get so much out of the honesty in your journey.
God advised us again to not turn away from Him no matter what we are going through and if we turn knowing the consequences then we will die we will lose His presence but the great news we won’t lose His love cause no matter what He will always be waiting for us.
Thank you Pastor Allan for your testimony a reminder that Jesus is always with us that we don’t need to doubt but believe and trust Him and to listen to His voice.
We have a “responsibility to those who are so easily swayed, to example the right life style in words and deeds”. This is beautiful. I have never thought of this a responsibility and am challenged now to.
“busy-ness can squeeze wisdom right out of your life…your life consumed with details that seem urgent but lack importance to your destiny.” I have responsibility as a top strength and can say I know this from personal experience to be more than true.
I have been here one too many times in life!
Thank you Pastor Allan! I will now practice saying “no” and “let me think about that”. And surround myself with the wise
I know raising youths right now is a continual conversation about “ what you won’t compromise on” values, right and wrongs , making wise choices, being obedient , following your dreams but not getting caught up with the world’s expectations or lure .
This is a great reflection on the verse Allan
And wisdom calls to us as you explain it.
That is such an awesome testimony of encountering God at a vulnerable time in your life – thank you for sharing it Ps Allan. The lines that really spoke to me were “Jesus walked through a wall to help Thomas (John 20:26-28) in his doubt. Don’t allow your heart to become hard, it’s ok to have honest doubts though.” Reading these lines are very timely encouragements. Thanks so much Ps Allan. God bless!
“You can easily become a dumping ground for others projects, your life consumed with details that seem urgent but lack importance to your destiny.”
Once we know the importance of our purpose calling and destiny, it’s easier to know the direction we are meant to go and also not as hard to say no.
Father God thank you that you allow us to doubt and ask questions when you are all knowing and almighty. Let me humble myself and soften my heart to you even when I have questions that I seem to find no answers to, and let me be okay with not knowing the answer at all. Amen