The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (27 page)

April 8

Diligence

     
Diligent hands will rule,

          
but laziness ends in slave labor.

Diligence
is an eager determination and decision to do that which needs to be done. No dragging the feet, no slacking.

Moms, I’m afraid that we’re training our children to be lazy. We are teaching them to procrastinate by allowing them to take shortcuts, put things off, and quit before the job is done. Every time they skate by with no consequences, the deeper that habit becomes.

We know how this works. When I am too lazy to pull a few weeds, they go to seed and the next spring I have thousands of weeds. Every time I put off getting a bill paid, I have a late fee. A lazy life is a wasteful life. Instead of being on top of things, they are on top of you. It’s a bad way to live.

I have fought the battle of procrastination my entire life. For instance, I love a clean desk, but I hate to clean it. So let’s apply two simple steps as I clean my messy desk.

1. Start small and get started. Right now I have stacks of books piled on my desk. I am going to get two shoe-box-sized bins and sort the books in two categories. Wow! That took all of five minutes.
   
2. Once I get started, the next step is easy. I will now sort the paperwork into two other bins. One is “to file,” the other is “to do” (bills, etc.). Wow, that took fifteen minutes. In the process, I found an expired certificate (oops), and a missing phone charger (yay). Good job, Debbi.
   

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

If you have kids still at home or grandkids who stay over, it is important to impart a joyful and diligent work ethic. In the real world, benefits don’t fall in place until responsibility is taken care of. We stunt kids’ growth when they get to watch a movie or go out to play before they clean up a mess they’ve made in the family room. Teach them to pick up toys when they are at a friend’s house, too. Diligence is a learned trait, and happy is the child who learns it at home.

One Year Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 32:28-52; Luke 12:35-59; Psalm 78:56-64; Proverbs 12:24

April 9

An Anxious Heart

     
An anxious heart weighs a man down,

          
but a kind word cheers him up.

This proverb is so timely. Anxiousness is written on people’s faces all around us. We know how this feels. Maybe you woke up this morning, anxious. It’s like a weight on your mind, on your shoulders, and on your heart. So, you worry. For many of us, worrying almost feels like the responsible thing to do.
Well, if I don’t worry, who will?
But I heard it said, “Worry does not rob tomorrow of its problems. It robs today of its strength.”

Our proverb today says “a good word cheers us up.” So, child of God, you need a good word. In Psalm 42:5-6, David asked himself the question
Why?
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (
NIV
). Listen to Jesus say to you today, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28,
NIV
).

Here is one more prescription for peace. Write it out and live it out—Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (
NKJV
).

Now that’s taking the weight off.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

You may be thinking,
If only you knew how serious my problems are
. Please know that I am not trying to make light of the weight you have been carrying. A seriously ill child, a battle with cancer, or a child on drugs is truly more than a human heart can bear alone. God knows and cares more than you will ever know; “the L
ORD
is close to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34:18). Will you take a few moments to pray right now? I believe he wants to give you a fresh and comforting sense of his strength to see you through this day.

Let’s Pray

Lord, I am feeling so very weak right now. You say that your grace is sufficient. I desperately need grace and hope that I am not alone. I lift my burden to you and ask that today you will carry it for me.

One Year Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13:1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25

April 10

True Friendship

     
The righteous should choose his friends carefully,

     
For the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Friendship. First of all, I want to say to all of us as women,
we need friend
s
! We need godly friends. Truly, my friendships are some of my dearest treasures. C. S. Lewis asked, “Is any pleasure in earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?”

Picture the moment that Jonathan chose David as a friend. In many ways they were light-years apart. Jonathan lived in a palace, David was just a shepherd. But 1 Samuel 18:1 says, “The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David” (
NKJV
). Their friendship with each other was sparked because individually they each had a deep, personal friendship with God.

The advice in our proverb says to choose your friends carefully—and advises against mingling with those who have wicked traits. So let’s list some traits to guard against.

• Jealousy.
  Don’t get too close to someone who has jealousy issues. She will start tearing others down. And fight against that trait in yourself. Don’t be jealous when your friend has other friends.
  
• Pettiness.
  If you are buddies with someone who is petty and critical, you will learn to be petty and critical.
  
• Worldliness.
  What kind of movies do you watch together? Do you have a friend who would rather go shopping than to Bible study? And would Jesus be comfortable with the things you talk about and the places you go?
  

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Okay then, how do you make and keep good friendships? Many years ago I learned three important lessons from Proverbs 18:24: “A man [or woman] who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (
NKJV
). First of all, don’t wait for the other person to be the first one to reach out. Second, be a true friend, especially when someone is going through a hard time; it makes your bond sweeter and deeper. Third, never allow a friend to take the place of your friendship with Jesus; he is the one who sticks closer than a brother or sister.

One Year Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 34:1—Joshua 2:24; Luke 13:22–14:6; Psalm 79:1-13; Proverbs 12:26

April 11

Be Diligent

     
Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch,

          
but the diligent make use of everything they find.

A lazy life is a wasteful life. Our economy is in crisis. It is time for all of us to wake up and be serious about being diligent in the everyday details of life. For godly women this is called discipline and stewardship. Even little changes can add up. It can be fun. Get your kids involved. They can clip coupons and help compare prices online. I googled the words
frugal tips
and found lots of websites with good ideas. As a young pastor’s wife I learned to make a dollar stretch a mile. Here are some habits I have used for years.

• Plan meals according to what is on sale that week at the grocery store.
  
• When items you use a lot are on sale, stock up; buy two.
  
• Buy good coffee and make it at home. One bag of coffee lasts weeks and costs about the same as just three cups at Starbucks.
  
• Take a few snacks and water bottles in the car to avoid buying expensive snacks while you’re out doing errands.
  
• Get out your Crock-Pot again. Throwing in a few potatoes and some chicken in the morning takes five minutes, and it is wonderful to come home to a hot meal.
  
• Make homemade iced tea instead of buying soda.
  
• A pot of homemade chicken soup, salad, and cornbread for eight costs less than dinner for two at a restaurant.
  

Benjamin Franklin advised, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Will you answer the call to be a woman of diligence? Will you then apply that diligence to your prayer life? Corrie ten Boom said, “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” So is a woman. James 5:16 tells us, “Tremendous power is made available through a good [woman’s] earnest prayer” (
THE MESSAGE
). We are not to take this great privilege and responsibility lightly. We’re to be warriors, fighting with our spiritual weapon, prayer! J. Sidlow Baxter said, “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.”

One Year Bible Reading

Joshua 3:1–4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28