Read through Proverbs in 31 days, Today’s reading is entitled “Only God Is In Control”
Read Proverbs 30 – Is the focal point for today a surprise to you? Is God in control of the rioting and looting that occurred in mid-2020? Was God in control of the police incident (murder) that sparked the rioting? Is God in control of the coronavirus that seems to have gripped the world, causing panic and fear? I would give a solid “NO” to these three questions. God was not in control of the reactions to the circumstances, this is all mankind and the evil influences of the world. How does that apply to the fact that God is the only one in absolute control? He allows freedom to choose what we do in life. The police officer chose how he would respond to the criminal who was passing bad checks or counterfeit money. It would seem that we don’t know all of the circumstances, but we witnessed the fallout from the “facts” that were presented. The “facts” of the coronavirus have proven to be somewhat falsified, although we have experienced the reaction to it.
God is in control of truth, and truth alone, so we can believe He did not control the human choices made.
- Those who do not know God have not mastered human wisdom and could be considered too stupid to be human.
- Every Word of God proves out to be true and man cannot add to or take away from it.
- Slandering someone can come back and cause trouble for you. Some people, proudly believing themselves to be pure, curse their parents and disgrace themselves. These people devour the poor and needy for their own benefit.
- The person who mocks father and mother will be left to join the wild animals in their carousings.
- Rest assured that stirring anger results in fights just as certainly as a bloody nose results from an accurate punch.
“Too stupid to be human …” Is this the actual phrasing found in God’s Word? Yes, those are the words used in verses 2 and 3 of the New Literal Translation and many others. We know that some words don’t translate well from Hebrew to English and we see other interpretations using brutish, ignorant and “like an animal” in verse 2. All of these adjectives apply well to those who have refused the truths contained in God’s truthful Word. These descriptions apply even more accurately for those who consider themselves to be correct in twisting scripture to fit a specific worldly agenda.
If you have a “thick skin” and strong scriptural knowledge you can try a social media experiment. Pick any worldly subject which has saturated the news and social media. Research that subject and how God’s Word can be applied to it so that a fact-based post can be created comparing the various beliefs presented to scripture. Stay away from the account for at least six hours because the flurry of activity has the potential to drive you insane. Those words will be twisted and combined into meanings that you never intended or imagined. Those twisted words will be turned around even more as if you had said them with the worst of intentions. Resist the urge to respond and correct the untruths because that will only result in more twisting and stressful situations. After 24 hours or so everything will calm down again. Although your statements were not slanderous, you are likely to be slandered in this experiment. In this experiment, is the initiator stirring anger and fights? I would answer “not at all” to that question, although spreading the truth of God’s Word can result in anger shown by those who have not mastered human wisdom. Accepting the great commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28 can result in tribulation because of faith and willingness to shout about it. The hardest part is being as committed as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3) by choosing possible death over worshiping gods of this world. It is easy to sit in an air conditioned sanctuary and say that you would make such a choice, but not as easy when a call is made for missionaries to serve in a foreign country. Give great consideration to all of your choices in life.
