Applying proverbs to life
“Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.” Proverbs 25:19
If you’ve never experienced either malady, you may not truly appreciate the analogy.
A foot out of join is painful! It is unstable and debilitating. It hinders mobility.
If one has confidence in an unfaithful person, one is headed for pain, for ineffectiveness, for worse trouble, not help.
Twenty years ago, I tripped over a dog resulting in a triple fracture/ dislocation of my ankle. I remember a searing pain, heat flashing up my leg, but not until I looked down and realized my foot lay at a 90-degree angle to my leg did I realize the import of that. That was not in my plans. I had bushels of green beans waiting to be snapped and canned, chicken in the refrigerator to be cooked, a cake in the oven. But, a trip to the hospital, a doctor’s decision to wait until the next day for surgery, then surgery and recuperation forced me off my leg for weeks. With a 1-year-old son and six daughters ranging from 2 to 10 years old, I wasn’t sure how I would continue to manage the canning, but my eldest daughters stepped up and helped as I sat nearby overseeing the use of the pressure cooker.
Proverbs have real life applications and provide much wisdom.
Do you see the flaws in another clearly? Do you read proverbs and immediately think of someone else, seeing the advice as a window (thinking of others) or as a mirror (applying it to yourself)?
In Scripture, Jesus said: “Why do you look at the speck that is in your broth- er’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:41-42 New American Standard
••• Editor’s note: Annette Beard is the managing editor of The Times of Northeast Benton County. The opinions expressed are those of the author. She can be reached at abeard@nwadg.com.