The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (93 page)

December 20

A Christmas Carol

     
The leech has two daughters,

     
Give and Give! . . .

     
The grave,

     
The barren womb,

     
The earth that is not satisfied . . .

     
And the fire never [say], “Enough!”

We are nearing the end of the Proverbs. Instead of a chipper, upbeat theme, we are seeing an almost desperation. God is addressing a selfishness and emptiness that envelops and shadows.

And so on this theme, I’m thinking of that amazing story
A Christmas Carol
, written by Charles Dickens. In the story, Ebenezer Scrooge was selfish and harsh. “Give me” was his motto too, but the beauty and power of the story lies in the fact that he was given a second chance. On Christmas Eve he saw all of his life—past, present, and future—parade before him in a dream. He saw that if he did not change, people he could have helped would suffer, and he would die empty and alone. Then he awoke, and he realized he still had time to give and to be a blessing. But the best part of the story is that he did change. The good news was that it wasn’t too late.

What, then, is the lesson for us? Christmas for some is the loneliest time of the year. Maybe you’re feeling lonely and needy yourself. Would you close your eyes for just a moment? Can you think of a Tiny Tim who is needy, the child of a single mom, or an elderly man, or an unloved teenager? It is not too late. Maybe the stores have left the love of Christ out of Christmas, but the good news is, he can use you to put it back in.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

     
That I may not in blindness grope, but that I may with vision clear

     
Know when to speak a word of hope, or add a little wholesome cheer.

     
That tempered winds may softly blow where little children, thinly clad,

     
Sit dreaming, when the flame is low, of comforts they have never had.

     
That through the year which lies ahead, no heart shall ache, no cheek be wet,

     
For any word that I have said or profit I have tried to get.

One Year Bible Reading

Haggai 1:1–2:23; Revelation 11:1-19; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 30:15-16

December 21

Bitter Battles

     
The eye that mocks a father,

          
that scorns obedience to a mother,

     
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,

          
will be eaten by the vultures.

Oh, my goodness. If I was not committed to taking each proverb in order, I would surely skip this one. It does not seem like a four-days-before-Christmas theme. But maybe it is. God’s Word always has something to say to us. It could be that there is someone reading today who needs to hear this. Please bear with me. It’s important and urgent.

First of all, this is speaking to you if you have a broken relationship full of bitterness and anger toward your parents. Please know this is going to eat you up to your dying day. I think this is the very reason that God inserted this graphic, awful word picture of ravens and vultures. Vultures only eat the dead and dying. Truly, the enemy of your soul feeds on and delights in seeing a child of God who is bitter. Bitterness is a rottenness and emotional death in you. It robs your joy and steals your peace.

Let me say, no matter what the issue is, even if it’s deep and serious, may this be the Christmas that Satan gets no more mileage by tormenting you.

Now the question is, are you willing to forgive? If so, express that to the Lord right now. He is able to make you able. It would be a threefold gift: to your parents, to yourself, and to God the Father, who loves you. This may seem like the most expensive gift you’ve ever given. Actually, it is. Forgiveness is not only expensive, it’s priceless.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Perhaps you are entirely innocent of bitterness within your family. It’s those ornery folk on the outside who are the problem. At one time both William Anderson Hatfield and Randolph McCoy were simple, hospitable, home-loving mountain men. They were close friends. But once they started to feud, they never forgave and never forgot. Now their name, the Hatfields and the McCoys, are synonymous with the danger of escalating, unresolved anger. One Christmas long ago, God sent his Son to straighten us out. If you are bitter against anybody, anywhere, for any reason, will you open your heart and let him unload your guns?

One Year Bible Reading

Zechariah 1:1-21; Revelation 12:1-17; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 30:17

December 22

Amaze Me!

     
There are three things that amaze me—

          
no, four things that I don’t understand:

     
how an eagle glides through the sky,

          
how a snake slithers on a rock,

          
how a ship navigates the ocean,

          
how a man loves a woman.

Four amazing things: it is good to sometimes ponder and just enjoy some of the amazing things in nature that really can’t be explained. In the natural world, God has placed his signature deeply in creation.

Let’s ponder the majestic beauty of an eagle soaring. It can soar at an altitude of up to ten thousand feet and achieve speeds of thirty-five miles per hour. Bald eagles weigh only ten to fourteen pounds, have seven thousand feathers, are good swimmers, mate for life, and are at the top of the food chain. All eagles are renowned for their excellent eyesight. Soaring at one thousand feet, they can identify a rabbit moving almost a mile away.

A snake has no feet, leaves no footprints, and yet, it’s lightning fast. Amazing, and a little scary.

A ship on the sea weighs thousands of tons, and yet, it leaves no trail and does not sink. For thousands of years, sailing ships have been driven by the wind and the currents and navigated by the stars. Surely this is amazing.

The fourth on our list is the way a man falls in love with a woman. We never tire of a sweet love story, do we?

But the most wonderful thing of all is God’s love for us. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16,
NKJV
). Now, that’s amazing!

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Although all of God’s creation is awesome and astounding, there is nothing quite as amazing as you. You are his masterpiece. You were created in his image. Although you spent your first half hour of life contained in one cell the size of a sugar granule, you were already
you
. As Dr. Seuss has said, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” No one ever possessed your exact DNA or your fingerprint. You are not a one-size-fits-all. Go to bed tonight knowing that he who flung the stars into space is watching over you with love.

One Year Bible Reading

Zechariah 2:1–3:10; Revelation 12:18–13:18; Psalm 141:1-10; Proverbs 30:18-20

December 23

The Earth Trembles

     
Under three things the earth trembles,

          
under four it cannot bear up:

     
a servant who becomes king,

          
a fool who is full of food,

     
an unloved woman who is married,

          
and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.

All four of these things, first of all, just shouldn’t happen. And when they do, there is trouble.

There is a tremble when a servant becomes a king. Through the ages people who rise to positions of leadership without training, experience, or wisdom often rule harshly. They rule with fear because of their own fears.

A fool doesn’t know you can have a full stomach but an empty head and an empty soul. Before the prodigal fell on hard times, he was full of himself. But when he became hungry, Jesus said, he came home (see Luke 15:11-32).

The next two things that make the earth tremble are an unloved married woman and the woman who replaces her. It makes me tremble too. This is both sad and wrong. Wives, be aware. Your husbands are bombarded everywhere they go with seductive and tempting images. There are women out there who are aggressive and dedicated to winning them. So, first of all, are you praying for him every day? Secondly, I don’t want to be unspiritual in this suggestion, but, girls, sometimes we need to keep up a little with the competition. Don’t let yourself look drab and unkempt. And, thirdly, love him. Make your husband’s home his castle.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

God created a perfect world. It’s hard to imagine why Eve doubted God’s goodness and believed he withheld good from her. She had a perfect home, no wardrobe issues, and was married to a perfect husband (the last perfect husband). Adam was married to a perfect wife (the last one of those, too). But Eve took the bait and ate the fruit, and since that moment, our world has been full of things that shouldn’t be.

If your world feels like Humpty Dumpty, broken in a thousand pieces, Jesus came to fulfill the words spoken by Isaiah the prophet. “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound . . . to comfort all who mourn . . . to give them beauty for ashes” (Isaiah 61:1-3,
NKJV
).

One Year Bible Reading

Zechariah 4:1–5:11; Revelation 14:1-20; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 30:21-23