“But he who listens to me shall live securely, and shall be at ease from the dread of evil.” Proverbs 1:33

I’ve been reading Proverbs with a group of guys for the past several weeks and have been surprised at how much I like it. That might sound terrible as pastors are required, by some sort of implicit law, to love all Scripture (which I most certainly do). My issue with Proverbs has been that it can feel like a bunch of stand-alone statements that are hard to relate to one another.

Well, I have to admit that I had Proverbs wrong. As we’ve been reading through it, I’ve discovered how often themes get repeated and revisited, re-explained with different metaphors and rich imagery. Throughout the book there is a clear contrast between the path of wisdom and the path of wickedness. Listening to wisdom and walking in that path, results in peace, security and blessing. Whereas listening to evil and walking in the path of wicked desires, results in darkness and destruction.

Security, peace, blessing – Proverbs tells us that the world offers us a version of these things in exchange for our souls. At first, they taste like honey. But, soon enough, we find that we’ve eaten bitter wormwood. In contrast to this, we’re told that God offers us true security, peace, and blessing – although they come by way of a process that includes being corrected by Him, trained, and tested.  We arrive at our intended destination by walking a difficult path.

That’s where Proverbs has been more challenging for me. My expectations are that “living securely” means living where there are no threats to my security. And being “at ease from the dread of evil” means that there is no evil. In truth, Proverbs assures me that, in this life, threats are always present and that evil will most likely continue to call out to me, urging me to leave the path of life for the path of destruction.

I think it would be wise for me to reset my expectations (and prayers) towards a deep inner security and peace in the midst of an evil world. Rather than just asking God to remove all threats, maybe I should ask Him to give me a peace that passes understanding and a knowledge of His love that cannot be shaken.

What about you? Is there a difficult situation that just won’t go away? I encourage you to continue to ask God to deliver you from it AND ask Him to plant you so firmly on the path of life that, regardless of what comes your way, you won’t be shaken.