Today I was brought back to Proverbs 31. I know I know... but this is good stuff.
"She looks well to how things go in her household,and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat." - Proverbs 31:27
I think it's safe to say that we all have had seasons in our lives where we have felt idle or "stuck". I know you've heard people say it, and I have said it myself "...just stuck in a rut!" It could be a mental rut, a relational rut, or you have just lost your path & feel like you have no direction so you do nothing kind of rut.
Well, this past year I found myself in one of these ruts. After a whirlwind of life changes sent my head spinning, I ended up one very disoriented & confused lady! It didn't have to be that way, but I chose to allow myself to end up that way. So to cut out the gory details... what did I end up doing? I sat down. I sat down on God's calling on my life, on my relationships, I sat down on everything really. It definitely wasn't fun times. Sitting down can be a good thing sometimes. Sometimes we really do need to slow down in order to speed up. The issue comes when we decide to STAY down. But I am reminded of a verse (I'll have to find the reference), where Jesus finds a lame man who has been praying & waiting for his healing his whole life basically. Jesus heals him, but how he heals him is interesting. He doesn't pray a long prayer, He doesn't cry, He doesn't even say "you're healed"...He says "GET UP! Pick up your mat and walk!" WOW! That man heard Jesus say those words & was obedient. He didn't protest or delay, he jumped right up and walked! The man received his healing! Jesus DIED so would have life and life ABUNDANTLY. He died for every sickness, every heartache, every sin, every issue, he became poor so we might be rich......RECEIVE IT! GET UP AND WALK!! :)
Anyways, back to original reference ;) Some definitions -
Idleness: not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing./not spent or filled with activity/
not in use or operation; not kept busy/ habitually doing nothing or avoiding work/of no real worth, importance, or significance(OUCH!)
Gossip: idle talk or rumor, especially about personal and private affairs of others
Self-pity: pity for oneself, especially a self-indulgent attitude concerning one's own difficulties, hardships
Wow again. There is so much in this one little verse I'm not sure where to start. I love looking up meanings of words I'm already familiar with since it just seems to always be so revealing. First of all I think its interesting that it refers to idleness, gossip, discontent, self pity as bread...literally something you eat. I don't know about you but I don't think I want to partake of this kind of bread. All over Proverbs it talks about our words and how a man is defiled by them, that we will eat the fruit of our mouths, and how powerful our words truly are!
The gist of what I'm reading in this verse though, says to me that when you are idle the enemy has a field day! He loves idle minds & hands. When you are idle it allows for plenty wallowing, negative thoughts to nest, lots of room to confuse & paralyze with fear because of lack of action (faith). I have experienced this exactly in my own life. But I believe the cure for this is simply to "Get up!" and take ACTION. I've heard many times from some very wise people I look up to say that "action overcomes fear". Why? I believe its because when you take a positive action it is just the opposite of fear itself. It's FAITH! And Satan gets his butt kicked! So many times we wait to see or feel that its the right time, or to just feel like doing _______. But feelings are such unreliable things & if you listen to them long enough they will keep you from having any sort of victory or success in your life. It reminds me of many of the patients that I have had- they get down with some physical sickness & put on bed rest. Some do their ROM exercises & get right out of bed when they are allowed and stretch those legs. And others ...don't. What happens to those that don't, is their muscles get stiff or they even wither away. The only way for them to fix this is to GET MOVING! So I encourage you today to ignore how you FEEL and get moving :) Let the Holy Spirit guide you especially when you don't feel like it. Just do anything. He will hold your hand & He is there for you when you fall.
By His Grace <3
