The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (20 page)

March 12

Wicked Men Perish

Our proverb today is pretty sober. It reminds us that life is short, so don’t waste it.

     
When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;

          
all he expected from his power comes to nothing.

What exactly does the word
wicked
mean? Of course it means “a criminal, one guilty of crimes,” but the definition also includes “one who is hostile to God, guilty of sin (against God or man), the ungodly.”

Do you ever think of people like Hugh Hefner? He built his empire by influencing young women to cross lines of immorality and to be used like merchandise. He did this for a long time. His magazine introduced the lifelong addiction of pornography to many.

I wonder: as he stands before the throne of God on Judgment Day, will he see how his influence started them on a path that ruined their lives? Will he see the story of each girl? Will he see children born into the broken lives of these women? Will he see his life was only used for evil? He was an icon and model for others who opened clubs and made money stealing the innocence of women.

To the Hugh Hefners of this world, I want to say, “No amount of money will bail you out of the truth that you wasted your life and ruined others.” Hefner said, “When you’re living all this day by day, you have no idea what you’re going to accomplish, and certainly no idea what lies ahead.” So true, as the Bible clearly states: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27,
NKJV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

“When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes.” Just the sound of this makes you shudder. But maybe as you read it there is a ring of comfort. If you have suffered from wickedness, sexual abuse, or abuse of any kind, you may have wondered if God cares. The answer is yes. He is merciful, but he is also just. These words are for you: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19,
NIV
).

One Year Bible Reading

Numbers 16:41–18:32; Mark 16:1-20; Psalm 55:1-23; Proverbs 11:7

March 13

Delivered from Trouble

     
The righteous is delivered from trouble,

     
And it comes to the wicked instead.

Here is a very important promise: God rescues the godly from trouble. But does this mean that when you walk with the Lord, there is a bubble around you, that you will never face hardships or go through tough times?

No. Really I wish it meant that, but it doesn’t. When we read the Bible, we see righteous men like Job and Joseph and even Jesus himself go through times that are worse than we can imagine.

So what kind of deliverance is this proverb talking about? The Hebrew word for
trouble
in this verse is
tsarah
, which means “tightness, distress.” Hmm. Could this mean then that no matter what, nothing can press you so hard on the outside as to break you down and destroy you inside? This is the greater and really most important wall of protection, isn’t it? We can lose our job or our house or even our health, but it’s when these things rob our peace, our integrity, or our faith that we become bankrupt.

Paul the apostle is the perfect example. He loved the Lord and spent his life radically sharing the gospel, and yet he went through crazy, hard times. Listen to what he had to say about this in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (
NIV
). So our promise from God in this is that when hard times crush on you, he will give his strength in you.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

What kind of problems are you facing right now? Health problems, a handicapped child, an aging parent, finances, a troubling lawsuit—all these things can feel like a mountain ready to crush you. But God has promised he will deliver you. David wrote the words of Psalm 56 when he was running for his life from King Saul. He had no safe place to run, but to God alone. Will you read it today and let his words and trust in God’s deliverance give you hope?

One Year Bible Reading

Numbers 19:1–20:29; Luke 1:1-25; Psalm 56:1-13; Proverbs 11:8

March 14

Gossipers

     
With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor,

          
but through knowledge the righteous escape.

     
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;

          
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

     
Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

          
but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

Our topic today is gossip. Gossipers are dealers in scandal. They are busybodies. There’s an old country proverb that says, “Tale-bearers should be hung up by the tongue and tale-hearers by the ears.” Well, that would fix ’em, wouldn’t it—or would it? I think we should ask ourselves,
Why? Why do we sometimes slander and gossip even though we know it’s ugly?
We hate it when others do it to us, don’t we?

Well, the truth is, gossip is not just a matter of the tongue. Actually, it is a matter of the heart. “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34,
NKJV
). Jerry Bridges wrote a book with the provocative title
Respectable Sins
. He says, “Indulging in gossip seems to feed our sinful ego, especially when the information is negative. It makes us feel self-righteous by comparison.” I think he hits a chord there. Ouch!

Our proverb today says, “Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.” So true, but it’s not just a city. It’s a home, a ministry, or a group of friends that’s exalted. Ladies, what do you think? Wouldn’t it be great if today the only thing we said about or to anyone was a blessing? I think it would be great.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

It’s been said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

Have you been the victim of gossip? It can get to you. You can’t really defend your reputation because the damage is already done. In Psalm 57:1, David expressed his hope and survival technique in times like that: “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed” (
NIV
). Will you make his words your own? In the shelter of God, your soul will find peace.

One Year Bible Reading

Numbers 21:1–22:20; Luke 1:26-56; Psalm 57:1-11; Proverbs 11:9-11

March 15

Let’s Not Gossip

     
It is foolish to belittle a neighbor;

          
a person with good sense remains silent.

     
A gossip goes around revealing secrets,

          
but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.

Chuck Swindoll once quoted an epitaph from an English country tombstone: “Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, lies Arabella Young, who on the 24th of May began to hold her tongue.”

Arabella Young must have been a gossip. I wonder who wrote her epitaph? Was it someone whose reputation or whose friendships had been damaged because Arabella just plain talked too much?

Maybe—and now I’m going to say this with a sad pang in my heart—but maybe Arabella went to prayer meetings and brought up juicy little scraps of bad news so that everyone could be “praying about it.” But have you noticed that sometimes we talk about the problems of others more than we pray about the problems of others? Shame on us. Arabella should have known that God is definitely against gossip, and we should be too. In fact, the Proverbs address the sins of the tongue over sixty times.

On the other hand, “those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.” Johann Lavater once said, “Never tell evil of a man if you do not know it for certainty, and if you know it for a certainty, then ask yourself, ‘Why should I tell it?’”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Is it really a big deal if we gossip just a little bit, and only with our closest friends? Let’s let Jesus answer: “But I tell you that men [and women] will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36,
NIV
). Therefore, what can we do when others turn the conversation to backbiting and slander? Turn the tide. Shoot an arrow prayer: “Lord, help me to say something positive about that person.” You’ll see; God will give you wisdom in that moment. If the gossipers continue, kindly excuse yourself, leaving one less person to participate in their unholy huddle.

One Year Bible Reading

Numbers 22:21–23:30; Luke 1:57-80; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 11:12-13