Read today’s texts first: Proverbs 1-3; Romans 7
Sometimes what God asks us to do makes no sense
to our human logic or emotional impulses.
Solomon was definitely wise, but he wasn’t always smart. The book of Proverbs he wrote, by the inspiration of the Spirit, is filled with memorable words to live by, but he didn’t always listen to his own advice.
The verses that stood out to me have been meaningful to me my entire life, but never more so than my first day working as a chaplain at Buchanan. The words I read that morning were the words I needed to hear in that moment: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (3:5,6).
An hour later, as I stepped through the doors of this wonderful ministry, I was conflicted. The work I was beginning was very different from anything I’d done in my previous 40 years of pastoral ministry. And yet, after spending a day with God before making this decision, I was certain He was asking me to do it. In that moment of contradictory emotions, these verses came flooding back to me. Instantly, my spirit was filled with God’s incredible, inexplicable peace, the kind of peace that transcends human understanding (Phil. 4:7).
Sometimes what God asks us to do does not make sense according to human logic or emotional impulses. Solomon faced that same quandary, knowing what God wanted of his life, but torn by trying to make too many women happy. Though not a proverb, the saying, “happy wife, happy life” is very true. Unless, of course, you are Solomon, with 700 wives and 300 concubines! Before I got married, I envied his life; now I pity him. Trying to appease all those women, and their foreign gods, pulled Solomon away from simple trust in and obedience to the one true God. Solomon illustrated what our NT reading talks about, the war between flesh and Spirit, human and godly desires.
“Lord, Your ways and Your words are trustworthy, far more than my own. I acknowledge You as the one who led me into this new and exciting ministry, and I look forward to the straight path ahead!”
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