The halfbaked Bard

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Why try to understand?

Pro:20:24 The Lord directs your steps So why try to understand everything along the way. For a child of God, this is a big assurance. That the Lord directs your steps. The Lord will guide. The Lord will persist to guide because of His love. He has promised that He will not leave you nor forsake you. A positive outcome is sure to come ultimately. But sometimes it might not look so positive, especially when He says wait. It is difficult to drag yourself through when you really don't understand the reason behind what you are going through. Sometimes His ways seem illogical to you. But very often it is imperative to say - even then I will trust you. It is not important to understand the whys in God's ways. It is not important to see till the end. It is more important to trust Him still. For we know that He is good and His plans are good. His plans are for our welfare. To prosper us. Plans to give us hope. So why try to understand everything along the way. Image cred

Don't shove

Though good advice lies deep within the heart A person with understanding will draw it out. Pro:20:5 Advises are everywhere. Even good advises. As we hear it, it goes into our heart. We might not be able to practicalise it as we hear it. But a wise man thinks about it and brings it back from his heart in the right time and applies into his life. A fool doesn't pay heed to it. Just brushes it off, pushing it under the carpet as if he never heard it. Be wise. Be a man of understanding. Image credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2/image-film?phrase=sweeping+under+the+rug

"As well" is the standard

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honour Only fools insist on quarreling. Pro:20:3 The normal path is to start or continue on a quarrel. For the world's teaching is to pin your point. If you do not stand for yourself, who else will stand for you? The Kingdom perspective is different. Walk the extra mile, show the other cheek as well, is what the master teaches. Picking up a fight is easy normalcy. But avoiding by keeping quiet is the difficult one. You might seem to have lost the battle. But it is foolish to insist on quarreling. To keep on blabbering is useless. Learn to keep quiet. Let others win. Your identity is not based on whether you win this or not. Your identity is that you are a child of God. That doesn't change if you win or lose. Even if you are on the right side, by keeping quiet you let God do the talking. God will work for your benefit. God will do the convincing. God will work on your behalf. He will bring a solution as you keep quiet and let Him. I

Tolerant

How often do i tolerate another's mistake? How patient am I? How many chances do I give them to err? How many times have I told them (or may be thought in my heart) "How many times have I told you?" Jesus' standard was to forgive seventy times seven. Pro:19:19. Hot tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again. Keep doing like Jesus has forgiven your endless struggle again and again. As you fall again, He will forgive again and He will lift you again. If I do not forgive again and again, if I do not give yet another chance, then what love do I have for them? Do I not give myself one more chance endlessly because of my love to myself? Yes. So Jesus commands - Love your neighbor as yourself. Matt:22:39. This is the second most important command. Letting go or demeaning or letting your anger and anger frustration out is the opposite. Help me Lord to be patient, to be tolerant, to be accomodarive, to be loving.

Reroute

Pro:19:21 You can make many plans But the Lord's purpose will prevail. Prevail means, prove more powerful and superior. It just doesn't mean, God will impose His plans as a cruel ruler - like whatever you plan, only His purpose will come to pass. You plan in vain. It doesn't just picturize God as a cruel ringmaster, who forces His plans into our life and makes us do things which He wishes, no matter what. But He is a compassionate father who wants the best to happen in our life. His sovereignty picturises His goodness too. The best that we can do is to desire for planning like He plans. Fully trusting in the way He leads. He will not take us in a way and ditch us midway. Even if we take foolish choices in between, He will transform that to His wonders, because His ultimate beautiful purpose of remaking us into the image of Christ has to happen. He chose them to be like His Son (Rom:8:29). He knows everything. He controls everything. And because He is love and

Help

Pro:19:17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord And He will repay you. Do not be stingy in helping others in need. Because the Word says, when you help them you are lending to God, who is rich beyond all measures and He will repay you. We give freely if we think of our wealth as something not of our own. But something that is given to us. Entrusted to us. Our attitude to giving has to change. It is said about a cheerful giver, that God loves him. And those He love, will He not bless? Yet if our attitude in giving is to get more from a richer source, our attitude is wrong. Give out of compassion to the needy. You give money, time, energy, encouragement, prayers, knowledge to those who are in need, with your full heart and God will bless you. Image credit: https://ariyajoti.wordpress.com/2020/11/01/how-do-you-define-helping/