Verse from Proverbs

“As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.”

(‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭26:21)‬ ‭

Scroll to the bottom of many online news sites and you’ll find the “Comments” section where readers can leave their observations. Even the most reputable sites have no shortage of rude rants, uninformed insults, and name-calling.

The book of Proverbs was collected about 3,000 years ago, but its timeless wisdom is as up-to-date as today’s breaking news. Two proverbs in chapter 26 seem at first glance to contradict each other, yet they apply perfectly to social media. “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him” (v. 4). And then, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes” (v. 5).

The balance in those statements is in the “according to”: Don’t answer in the way a fool would answer. But respond so that foolishness is not considered wisdom.

Are we ourselves foolish at times? Have we at times posted a sarcastic comment or turned someone else’s statement back on them. God hates it when we treat our fellow human beings with such disrespect, even when they’re also being foolish. 

God gives us an amazing range of freedoms. We are free to choose what we will say, and when and how we say it. And we are always free to ask Him for wisdom.

Verse from Genesis

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife. Genesis 25:21

Josephine Cochrane (1839-1913) was tired of having her dishes damaged by handwashing, so she decided to create a dishwasher. Shortly after she began her design, her husband passed away, leaving her in debt. Those circumstances reinforced her need to succeed. In 1886, with a mechanic’s help, she built and then patented the first commercially successful hand-powered dishwasher. At first her dishwasher didn’t sell, but then hotels and restaurants began purchasing them. It wasn’t until the 1950s that dishwashers became popular in homes.

Sometimes it takes time and struggles for plans to come to fruition. The same is also sometimes true of God’s promises. Abraham and his descendants were promised they’d become a great nation, yet Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never saw it happen. Abraham was one hundred years old when Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac (Genesis 21), and Isaac was sixty when Rebekah finally gave birth (25:20-21, 26). When Jacob settled in Egypt during a famine, his family numbered only seventy persons (46:27). It wasn’t until the time of Moses (about 400 years later) that the Israelites became a great nation.

As Isaac waited for a son, he did what we’re all called to do: He “prayed to the Lord” (25:21). Bring your hopes and struggles to God. He’ll bring you comfort, guidance, strength, and blessings as you wait.

Verse from Psalms

“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.””

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭10‬ ‭

In a time of conflict with other nations, Israel received a word from God: “Be still” (Psalm 46:10). “Stop striving,” He said in essence, “just follow what I say. I will fight for you.” Israel was not being told to be passive or complacent but to be actively still—to obey God faithfully while yielding control of the situation and leaving the results of their efforts to Him.

We’re called to do the same. And we can do it because the God we trust is sovereign over the world. If “he lifts his voice [and] the earth melts,” and if He can make “wars cease to the ends of the earth” (vv. 6, 9), then surely, we can trust in the security of His refuge and strength (v. 1). The burden of control over our life isn’t on us—it’s on God.

Verse from Ephesians

“of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:7‬ ‭

A woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, fell asleep on the couch after her husband had gone to bed. An intruder sneaked in through the sliding door, which the couple had forgotten to lock, and crept through the house. He entered the bedroom where the husband was sleeping and picked up the television set. The sleeping man woke up, saw a figure standing there, and whispered, "Honey, come to bed." The burglar panicked, put down the TV, grabbed a stack of money from the dresser, and ran out.

The thief was in for a big surprise! The money turned out to be a stack of Christian pamphlets with a likeness of a $20 bill on one side and an explanation of the love and forgiveness God offers to people on the other side. Instead of the cash he expected, the intruder got the story of God’s love for him.

Saul, later called Paul, must have been surprised by God’s grace toward him, which he called “a gift”: “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power” (Eph. 3:7).

Have you been surprised by God’s gift of grace in your life as He shows you His love and forgiveness?

Never measure God’s unlimited power by your limited expectations.

Verse from Proverbs

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬)

The tragedy of war is staggering, yet our relationships and families can begin to fracture with only a few hateful words. James wrote, “See how great a forest a little fire kindles!” (James 3:5).

On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in response to the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Within 90 days, other European countries had taken sides to honor their military alliances and pursue their own ambitions. A single event escalated into World War I, one of the most destructive military conflicts of modern time.

A small comment can start a large fight. When we, by God’s grace, choose not to retaliate with our words, we honor Jesus our Savior. When He was abused and insulted, He fulfilled the prophetic words of Isaiah, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:7).

Proverbs urges us to speak the truth and seek peace through our words. “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, . . . and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” (15:4,23).

Verse from Joshua

Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water. Joshua 15:19

With his team winning comfortably, Philadelphia Eagles’ superstar football player Saquon Barkley rested on the bench. There was no need for him to continue playing. Then his coach approached and told him he was close to breaking a record. Would he like to go back in? “I’m good,” said Barkley. “I’d rather see the young boys eat.” Barkley chose to give up a record so his young teammates could get playing time.

When Israel inhabited the promised land, Caleb was one of only two Israelites to survive the exodus all the way from Egypt (see Numbers 14:30). He’d enjoyed military success and had driven out an enemy nation (Joshua 15:14). Now, as he faced a Canaanite stronghold, he said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher” (v. 16). Othniel did so, and Aksah married him. Caleb gave them land in the Negev desert (v. 19), but Aksah approached her father with a request. “Do me a special favor,” she said. “Give me also springs of water” (v. 19).

For four decades, Caleb had toiled to get to the promised land. Still in good health (14:10-11), he could have kept the valuable springs for himself. But he didn’t.

Accumulating things for ourselves never means as much as we expect it to. Personal records get broken. Our possessions go to others. Let’s give while we live. As Saquon Barkley said, “[Let] the young boys eat.”

Verse from Ephesians

God . . . has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

To encourage believers in Jesus to live godly lives in an ungodly world (Ephesians 4:1, 17), Paul begins this letter by reminding us how much God loves us and in Christ has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing” (1:3). Through Jesus, we’re chosen, redeemed, forgiven, saved, and adopted as His children into His family, destined to be His heirs. 

Distinctively marked and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we’re graciously cared for and given all that we need to live God-honoring lives as His children (vv. 3-14). Whatever challenges or trials we may face, and whatever losses and pain we may suffer, our heavenly Father “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” for “his power . . . is at work within us” (3:20).