Seven Times

"Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwellings of the righteous, do not plunder his resting place; for a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity."  -Proverbs 24:15-16

As I read these verses in my Quiet Time today, I was drawn to "a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again..." My first thought was, Amen, story of my life summed up in a verse.  My next thought was, Well, what happens on the eighth time and how close am I to eight?  I feel like I keep getting knocked down and each time it gets a little harder and longer to get back up.  Sometimes I feel like a baby giraffe and God is the momma.  I feel like He keeps kicking me down so that I can stand up, just to get kicked down again.  But for this example to work, I need to let it play all the way out.  The momma giraffe has to do that to build the baby's leg muscles because there's a lot of predators in the safari, likewise there are many predators at work in my life (i.e. the devil and all of his followers).  They'd want nothing more than to devour me.  Yet, I will work my best to stand strong against them.  Another funny thing about the wilderness is that often you are told, when confronted with a predator, you should make yourself bigger or in some way stand up to it; the worst thing for you to do is to run away from it.  This is because predators are often faster and have more endurance than we do.  Likewise it is better for us to stand up against the temptations placed in front of us, which are only there to destroy us, rather than to run from them and run from the Truth that gives us the strength to fight.  Standing against Satan and the temptations he's placed in front of us makes us stronger and gives us power through Christ.  For Christ's strength is made perfect in our weakness, in our vulnerability.

As I read the Proverb's verses again as I wrote them in my journal, the thought occurred to me, what if 'seven times' does not mean seven times at all, but rather 'every day'?  Even if the righteous were to fall every day, he will be able to rise again.  This is because of the strength God has given us, which is made perfect in our weakness.  The wicked do not have this strength and will not be able to get up in the day of calamity.  Lord, even if I fall every day, let me rise again; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

When Plans Fail

Have you ever mourned because you thought everything was over?  Have you ever thought that things could not get any worse?  I know I have and so did the Prophet Samuel.  In my Quiet Time yesterday I was reading from 1 Samuel 16 and the first verse reminded me that my ways are not God’s ways.  The verse said, “Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite.  For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.’”  I know sometimes I have trouble because I feel God has called me to something, just to have it all not work out.   Samuel must have been devastated, but God was still in charge and had a plan.  I mourn for things in the past, how things didn’t go right, questioning God in the process.  However, God has better things in store for us.  He has allowed us to go through the ‘God forsaken’ times all the while leading us to the purpose of His plan.  Obviously Samuel did not see David coming, everything about David was wrong to Samuel, yet David became the best King Israel has ever had. 

I need to remember this story especially now with everything I have gone through and going through.  God has a plan, better than the one I have.  His ways are not my ways, and though it would have been easier if Saul could have just been the one or for God to have just waited for David, God had to teach Israel something.  He had to prepare them.  What is God preparing me for? 

Also, I need to remember that God paraded each of Jesse’s sons in front of Samuel and each time Samuel thought that son was ‘the one,’ but he wasn’t.  I know I often have the same feelings about things that happen in life.  I think whatever is in front of me is the best possible solution for the problem I am, but God has different plans.  God told Samuel, “For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7).  Even though God said this about the sons of Jesse, I think this applies to what I’m going through as well.  God sees the heart of matter, and He may parade opportunity after opportunity right in front of my face, however, I must wait upon Him.  The package may not be pretty and I may have preferred one of the others, however, God knows best.  His ways are perfect, even when the situation is not. 

David was not perfect and I cannot expect for the situations God places me in to be perfect either, however, David is still to be called a man after God’s own heart.  And even though my situations may not be perfect, they may still be what God has called me too.  I just need to be patient and see who/what God brings before me. 

So what I can learn from this is that when I feel God is leading me one way and then everything seems to mess up, it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t from God or that I was wrong, but rather that He is preparing me for something better and I just need to patient.  It’s so easy for me to resort to Samuel’s state of mind and mourn and then think that every opportunity that comes by is the right one.  But I need to remember to get up and go and see what God has in store for me next.