The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (31 page)

April 24

Wise Women Build

     
The wise woman builds her house,

     
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

The wise woman builds. To build is to construct. It is a constructive process, taking parts and pieces, fitting them together. To build up is to make strong and healthy. But to tear down is to break down, beat down, destroy, and ruin.

Wise or foolish, a builder or tearer? The question is for each of us. Who are we? And then, who do we really want to be? This applies to married women and single women, moms and grandmas, old and young. Your house is your life, your home, relationships, integrity, your purpose for living, your life in Christ, and your testimony for Christ. As I wrote these things down, I thought,
Wow, these are the important things.

Piece by piece I had to honestly ask myself the questions,
Have I chipped away by neglecting an important relationship or letting a little hurt linger? Have I been foolish or stubborn or lazy? Have I allowed something in my heart to linger that I know is not good or healthy or pleasing to God?

Two pictures, two end results. Each involves not just one big choice, but a thousand little, daily choices. So, child of God, to be wise or to be foolish? That is the question. And the wonderful thing is, we get to choose.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Some women make the tragic mistake of tearing down their children’s father to them or in front of them. They don’t see how this tears down the child’s own sense of worth. Recently a man in our church was told by his daughter that he was not invited to her wedding. Although the parents have been divorced twenty-five years, her mom refused to let him walk the bride down the aisle or even attend the ceremony. This decision was selfish and foolish.

Let me ask you a question: Are you tearing down your house? If you are, right now is the best time to pause and take it to God.

Let’s Pray

Lord, please forgive me for the ways I have been selfish and foolish and for the times I have torn down. I know you can restore the years the locusts have eaten (see Joel 2:25), so please help me to build and redeem.

One Year Bible Reading

Judges 2:10–3:31; Luke 22:14-34; Psalm 92:1–93:5; Proverbs 14:1-2

April 25

Don’t Sweat the Mess

     
Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;

     
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

I’ve always liked this practical little proverb. It makes a simple statement about realities of life.

First of all, if you’ve ever been around cattle, you know they leave a mess. It’s a lot of work to take care of farm animals. You have to shovel manure and feed them and harness them for work. So the first part of the proverb says if you don’t have an ox, you don’t have any cleanup. But then who is going to pull the wagon or the plow?

Okay, so how does this apply to us? I can think of a lot of applications. First of all, it applies to people. A lot of people complain about other people. Some say, “Well I’d like to find the perfect church, but there are just too many imperfect people there.” That’s right. If we could just get rid of all of those people, you wouldn’t have to vacuum the classrooms or clean the bathrooms. You would never have any issues to resolve. You wouldn’t have to have prayer meetings or Bible studies or Christmas plays. All those things are a lot of work. In fact, you could just have empty buildings with nobody making any messes anywhere.

Or we could realize that we need each other. People are worth it. We do need to love each other and bear each other’s burdens. Children in the halls, fingerprints on the doors—it’s all good. All these things are signs of life, and yes, they’re worth it.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Moms, when your kids are still at home, don’t sweat the small stuff; redeem the time. Although Pam Tebow has a journalism degree, she chose to be a homeschool mom raising five kids. She was faithful to teach them to memorize Scripture. There must have been many days when the housework suffered as she did lessons and meals and drove kids to sports games. The Tebow family came into the spotlight when their youngest son, Tim, won the Heisman Trophy. When Tim Tebow wore John 3:16 under his eyes, millions of people googled it to find out what it means. Good job, Mom Tebow.

One Year Bible Reading

Judges 4:1–5:31; Luke 22:35-53; Psalm 94:1-23; Proverbs 14:3-4

April 26

Mockers Find None

     
The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,

          
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

The mocker. Who are the mockers in this world, and why is it they can actually seek and study, but true wisdom eludes them? Why is that? Wealth, intelligence, age, or education can’t grant you either maturity or wisdom. Again, why is that?

Bottom-line reason is that mockers mock God. They mock moral absolutes. They mock the Bible and call it unreliable, although they’ve never read it. They mock their need for a savior because they mock the concept of sin. It’s interesting that many mockers will deny that there is a heaven or a hell, but if asked where they will go when they die, they will say, “Heaven.” They might have a bumper sticker that says, “Save the whales,” and also one that says, “Protect the right to abort.”
Hmm
. . . Save a whale, kill a baby? But of course this makes perfect sense to them. Does it not seem strange that many who reject the Bible will pick up a book with a conglomeration of New Age fables like
The Secret
and think it’s profound? Why is that? Because “the mocker seeks wisdom but finds none.”

So what is the true key to unlocking the storehouses of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment? The fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the L
ORD
is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (
NKJV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Many people wonder why they don’t understand or enjoy the Bible. They read the words, but don’t receive the same comfort and hope they hear others talk about. Do you feel like that? First Corinthians 2:14 tells us, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (
NKJV
). The Bible is a spiritual book. Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. Will you give it a try again by reading Psalm 95? Before you do, pause, still your heart, and ask the Holy Spirit to open God’s Word up and show you his treasures.

One Year Bible Reading

Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:54–23:12; Psalm 95:1–96:13; Proverbs 14:5-6

April 27

The Prudent Plan

     
The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,

          
but the folly of fools is deception.

Giving thought to our ways—now that is a good idea! The Hebrew word for “way” is
derek
. It means “road, course of life, or mode of action.” It includes our habits and lifestyle. It’s not just
what
we do day to day. It’s how we do it, why we do it, when we do it, and where it leads us.

This makes me think of a wonderful Scripture, Psalm 37:23 (
NKJV
): “The steps of a good man [or woman] are ordered by the L
ORD
.”

I love this. This means that we don’t have to think out our plans alone. The Lord is offering to be actively involved. That’s why—I can’t say it enough—that’s why it’s a tragic and foolish habit to waste a perfectly good day by not starting it out with time in God’s Word, at his feet, talking to him, letting him talk to you. I often keep a little notepad to make a running list of things I feel the Lord brings to mind. Often things come up that were not even remotely what I might have thought of. Sometimes it really makes me smile, the little divine detours I sense he puts on my heart.

So, child of God, in this crazy, off-course, upside-down world, don’t live a life of randomness. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways, and he will truly direct your steps (see Proverbs 3:6).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Today was a great day for me. I started the morning by asking the Lord to help me make a “get-to-it list.” I wrote down twelve things I’d been putting off for the last few weeks. I did not let myself move on to some things I wanted to do until I crossed off the last one.

Will you get out a pad, take a moment, and ask the Lord to help you make a list of things that have been nagging you? Then set a deadline. Tackle the first one. And keep going until the last one is done. Then you can reward yourself with a cup of tea and a cookie. Yep, sometimes we need a little positive reinforcement too!

One Year Bible Reading

Judges 7:1–8:17; Luke 23:13-43; Psalm 97:1–98:9; Proverbs 14:7-8