Proverbs 16

Verse 16:2 has always been a tough one for me:

Even when you think you have good intentions,
    He knows your real motives.

What drives us deep down? Is it really to honor God or get something in the end? I know often my inner drive is more based on “what’s in it for me” more than honoring God. It drives me up the wall since God does know my inner thoughts. I started the blog assuming God would bless it with some agent reading it and signing a book deal. Over a thousand posts later and we may get 1 or 2 visitors a week, but now doing it to expand my knowledge and pray it helps another find Jesus.

Verse 16:8 shows us the power of want:

Better to have little and stand for what is right
    than to become rich by doing what is wrong.

Jesus was not anti-wealth, but rather anti-separation from God. Money tends to get us busy and redirected to places away from God. This is saying avoid the distractions and be happy in what you have.

Verse 16:18 has been paraphrased into almost a cliché:

Pride precedes destruction;
    an arrogant spirit gives way to a nasty fall.

“Pride comes before a fall” is this verse boiled down. I personally have experienced pride in racing before I literally fell. I was “hot poo-poo” then I crashed and suffered injuries, everything from concussions to ruptured disc in the back. All were preceded by me thinking I was some great rider.

Verse 16:32 addresses our drive:

It is better to be a patient man than a mighty warrior,
    better to be someone who controls his temper than someone who conquers a city.

Asking someone to be patient today is a whole new ball game. No longer do we have to prepare food, but rather drive through gives it to us now. No longer do we need to go to the library to research a project, but we can answer deep questions at the kid’s ball game with our iPhone. No longer do we need to go to a “special store” to purchase porn, now we can watch it at our kid’s ball game.  Patience is a lost virtue.

I think the second line is more important since most impatient people tend to have an inability to control their temper. That causes more damage than anything!! A short outburst can destroy years of trust or respect. This cuts deep with me since my closest friends have been decimated by my sharp temper, Mike Lanning was the first. I blew up just playing around and stuck him with a heavy gage wire “whip” leaving a long lasting welt and a permanently damaged relationship. This is really the key to patience, not doing something stupid.