Proverbious – Day 5 – Proverbs 1:24-28 – Full Steam Ahead

Proverbious | David Lindner

I’m going to be honest with you, like any parent, I’m terrified of something happening to one of my kids. Of course I have all the usual fears that they’ll choke on something, get burned by the stove or a hot pan, cut themselves with a knife. But there is one thing in particular that I’m afraid of.

My second child, Henry, has this tendency to just run as fast as he can until he either gets to his destination or meets an obstacle and hits the floor. This full-steam approach to everything has brought about an injury or two in his life. It is also an across the board approach to his life whether we’re in the house or in a parking lot, and that’s where I get a little scared.

There are times when he’ll just take off out of the car without even thinking about where we are, and if we don’t catch him, he’s apt to run into the flow of traffic. Sometimes, I find myself calling out to him…no yelling at him to stop. And thankfully he listens. But, if he didn’t. And therein lies the fear.

But what about us? No matter what approach we take to life, wisdom has called out to us. Probably hundreds of times. We may not have recognized her voice, but it has been there. In the recesses of our mind, we know that wisdom has been trying to teach us her ways, and yet we continue on, full-steam ahead.

Proverbs 1:24-28

²⁴ However, because I called but you refused to listen,
because I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention,
²⁵ because you neglected all my advice,
and did not comply with my rebuke,
²⁶ so I myself will laugh when disaster strikes you,
I will mock when what you dread comes,
²⁷ when what you dread comes like a whirlwind,
and disaster strikes you like a devastating storm,
when distressing trouble comes on you.
²⁸ Then they will call to me, but I will not answer;
they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me.

You may not know this, but the last few years have been a little bit of a challenge for my family. I’ll get into the whole story somewhere down the line, but the most recent “challenge” (and I’m using that term rather lightly) is that I lost my job in September. We are in a situation where we really can’t move, and there aren’t really any jobs here, plus some other factors that I really can’t get into. So now, I’m looking for jobs like being a TSA agent or working in a cabinet shop.

When I think about all the things we’ve been through, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve been refusing to listen to wisdom in some way. Maybe wisdom has been trying to get in touch with me for years now and I just keep hanging up when she calls, sending her email right to the SPAM folder or blocking her from posting on my Facebook wall.

Regardless of whether or not that is true, or wherever you may find yourself in your journey right now, it would appear that now is the perfect time to start listening. Answer the phone, open the junk mail, open the door for the solicitor. Ok, it might not be time to do that. But, I think it’s time we all work a little harder at listening for wisdom’s call.

And perhaps if we listen just hard enough, we will hear her.