These are the wise saying of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king - written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; a manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; to teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. (1:1-3)That sounds great! I'd love a manual for living - for marriage, for parenting, for relationships in general. God, tell me what to do! I want to live wisely and follow You in my daily life.
But even in these first three chapters, some of what I'm reading just doesn't ring true:
Good Sense will scout ahead for danger, Insight will keep an eye out for you. They'll keep you from making wrong turns, or following bad directions (2:11-12) {Really? So believers never make bad decisions or wrong turns?}
Take to heart my commands. They'll help you live a long, long time, a long life lived full and well. (3:1-2) {Doesn't that mean godly people should live to ripe old ages? They often don't.}
Run to God, run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! (3:7-8) {Okay, so how do I make sense of all of the sick people I know?}
Wise living gets rewarded with honor; stupid living gets the booby prize. (3:35) {Our culture certainly doesn't honor those who live wisely. They're "boring" or "fundamentalists" or "unsophisticated."}I've seen plenty of godly people who suffer as they follow God wholeheartedly. People who go where they sense God is leading them, and it blows up in their face. People who give their lives to serve God and then endure debilitating health problems for years. And I can think of a long list of godly men and women who are mocked and belittled for their faith and wise living, so I can totally relate to Larry Crabb's struggle with the Book of Proverbs:
"But what I'm struggling with is what this letter seems to promise, that living wisely guarantees the good life of blessings now...So which is it? Which story are you telling? The story of how I can get You to bless my life with peace, long life, and prosperity? Or is it the story of Your plan to make me holy in this life and happily satisfied forever in the next?" 66 LL
But I appreciated how Crabb expressed God's perspective on these questions. It helped reframe my thinking on how to read and think about Proverbs.
"Too many churchgoers read a few favorite verses in Proverbs...and think they've found the manual to make life work, a map to the Promised Land... [but] two vital truths...serve as foundation and framework for everything else I say:
Truth #1: The wisdom I offer you is the wisdom by which I made the world, what little of it you can receive. I made life to work only if lived according to my design.
Truth #2: You will hear and live My wisdom only if first you fear Me, if you fall before Me in desperate terror and draw near to me in trusting awe.
...Never mistake this letter as a manual for successful living...Respect this letter as a guide to skillful living that may produce blessings today and will produce blessings when My Son returns. And in this life, skillful living will better accomplish My purposes." 66 LLLord, I have been guilty of a shallow reading of Proverbs, looking for promises that will satisfy my selfish desires. As I begin Proverbs again, I pray that You'll guide me and cause me to reflect deeply on how You are calling me to live. Rather than assuming I already know it all, I'm asking You to illuminate the Scriptures in ways I've never before experienced. I pray for insight into skillful living that will better accomplish Your purposes in me and in this world.
2 comments:
I am also grateful for Crabb's insight into Proverbs. I was actually dreading reading them because I've always looked at them as the way to gut it up and live right. And I could motivate myself to do it because there would be blessings on the other side. This has caused disappointment after disappointment because the alleged promises of Proverbs haven't proven reliable. I'm thankful for the challenge to a deeper reading.
Your "take" on Proverbs is so good, Cici. Loved the quotes you chose. So wanting to figure things out in midst of dark times but He's just wanting to give Himself to me not solutions. Liked quote on bottom of p 97 "As you read Proverbs, expect to feel the shame of exposure...and the appeal of wisdom." Some of these verses do reveal my heart and that's good. I wonder if way too many of us are trying to identify better strategies for life and do penance for our sins. Let your sin surprise you! Those are the ones that change us if we repent.
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