Secret Weapon
Proverbs 12:15 ESV
I’ve been on the planet long enough to have witnessed holy men who are hiding something. The truth is that pride really does go before the fall (Proverbs 16:18).
Every time.
Proverbs 12:15 tells us, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
You don’t have to attribute the fool as a holy man or woman. It can be anyone. The reason the fool is a fool is that he or she sees what they want to see about their own heart.
They believe what they want to believe and they think they know more than anyone else on the planet. They refuse to accept help or advise.
It’s a bit like a young mother who had her first child.
When my daughter was born I thought I knew something about babies. I read the books. I was prepared for diaper rash, a baby who refused to eat, a baby who couldn’t sleep at night, and many other different things babies do when they are very young. I was so fooled.
I was absolutely not prepared for what happened.
She was happy. She ate when I fed her. She burped on cue. She loved to snuggle, and much to my surprise she slept through the night the first night we came home from the hospital. I was pretty tired so I slept through the night as well.
When I woke up I was horrified. I mean, what kind of mother lets her new baby sleep through the night without feeding her for 7-8 hours. There weren’t any warnings about what to do if a newborn doesn’t wake up for a feeding.
I ran to the nursery and there she was chewing on her hands and happy as a clam. I prepared her formula, fed and changed her, and burped her. She didn’t fuss. I thought all babies woke up crying after sleeping for hours and wanted to be fed and changed. She did not.
The next night I was prepared for the worse.
But she slept all night. I was a fool. I thought babies were all alike. I went to see my parents and I told them her routine. I asked, “what am I doing wrong?” My dad told me, “you underestimated God and the power of prayer and you didn’t expect her to be who she is.”
Many decades later she is who she is…a straight A student. Obedient, loving, and caring.
After her I had three “normal” boys who were rowdy and always busy. They wanted to eat all the time and they loved playing with fireworks. They were exactly what I expected. She was my helper, a second set of eyes to keep them safe. I look back now and I laugh about the grace of God who is filled with surprises.
Deborah
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