Proverbs 24 "Spiritual Scrub Down!"

One fall we were cleaning out our gutters. I had forgotten to put my rusty garden rake away. I had left it prongs up, laying in the grass. As I was carrying the junk from gutters to a pile, I of course did not see the rake and stepped on it. Ouch! I was wearing crocs and the prong went right through the bottom. Ouch!

I decided I needed to go to the ER because it was a rusty rake and I had not had a tentnus shot in a long time. While I was at the ER they told me that the bigger problem was the rubber in my shoe that might be lodged in my foot. Apparently, rubber in a open wound is far worse than a rusty rake. Who knew? So, to make sure there was not any in there they had to SCRUB out my wound. I thought the rake in the foot was bad enough, WOW I was about to be very, very wrong.

The male nurse, who in my opinion was a very mean man, began to scrub like he was scrubbing a really burnt pan. I also think he was having a bad day and taking it out on me. If I were not a nice person, I think I would have kicked him with my other good foot. Seriously, I have given birth to three children...it hurt not as bad but it hurt. Anyways, after griping the sides of the bed and almost passing out my blessed foot was clean. Praise Jesus!

God reminded me of my stupidity as I was reading today's passage from Proverbs. I will have to remember to thank Him for that later. As I was reading, God began to reveal some things in my heart that I was doing. He began to give me a spiritual scrub down. It is the kind of revelation that brings me to my knees in repentance. Because, verses 17 & 19 is what I was doing.

17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,

18 or the LORD will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from him.

19 Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of the wicked,

20 for the evil man has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Ouch! I am once again reminded that God is always weighing our motives. He is peeling back the layers of our heart to get to the very core of who we are. Sometimes, it is so painful; the wounds we have go so deep. But God is cleaning the wound so that it can heal. We can not leave any rubber behind that might cause deadly infection. Sometimes God's scrubbing can hurt so bad; but it is for our own good.

He also reminded me that I need His strength.

10 If you falter in times of trouble,
how small is your strength!

11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this,"
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

I have been so caught up in my "woe is me" mentality that I have forgotten the calling, my calling, of verse 11 & 12. Rescue the Perishing! Those who do evil against me are also perishing. I have been selfish.

I think I have a better understanding of David today and why he is a man after God's own heart. Here we have a King, and generations after generations, we know the sin he committed. He was and adulterer and a murderer. But yet, we read His prayers of repentance. His songs of grief for his sin he had committed.

What has been my purpose in writing these blogs about proverbs? It is not because I am a great writer, I hated grammar in school. I thought it would be a great challenge, my thoughts to leave with my children and my grandchildren, to now it has become a personal journey of repentance and reconciliation with my God, just like David. God always wants to do more in us if we give Him the opportunity. I am reminded of a saying my mom always liked, "God loves me just as I am; but He loves me too much to leave me that way!"

And with that I will...
GET JOY!

Check out my friends perspective on Proverbs 24!