Proverbs Chapter 23

Proverbs 23:17-18 (ESV)
"Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off."

You sit at your desk holding your head in both hands. Your stress level is way off the charts. One of your two cars is broken down and in the shop. It looks to be a major expense for which there is no money in the bank. The hospital is calling to collect the rest of the bill from the surgery. The boss is talking about layoffs. You wonder if you can take any more bad news and stress. You look at others you work with or know and life seems to be great for them. How can that be? They don’t even go to church. They might not be Christians. Yet everything seems to be going well for them. You’re trying to live right and do all the right things with your family and everything is falling apart.

There is no doubt in my mind that you have had similar thoughts and questions at some time in your life. If not you will have. When you do, keep these verses in Proverbs 23 in mind. Don’t envy the sinner and the good that seems to fill his life. For that matter don’t begrudge him either for how well things are going for him. Your duty and mine is to reverence or fear God. It’s a matter focus. Instead of focusing on all the struggles of daily living and the apparent blessing on others lives, we should focus on Jehovah. He is still the Almighty God who created heaven and earth and all that is therein. He still loves you and cares for you. He cares about the stress in your life. And I can guarantee you that He has not left the throne. He has not turned His back on you. Quite the contrary. The struggles you face are part of His plan to draw you closer to Him.

There is a future. The struggle you are going through right now will not last forever. It will end. The strength and growth you gain in your current trial will make you stronger to face the next one. And the lessons you learn from the next one will make you wiser when you come to the one after that. The point is that there is purpose in your trials and struggles. And the hope you have is a lasting hope. It is a hope that is sure. It is a hope based on the one constant in the universe, God Himself.

I want to encourage you on two levels. The Bible tells us that sometime in the future of those in the family of God there is coming a day when "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Rev 21:4) This, of course, is our ultimate hope. The hope of eternal life. However, I believe that the promise of a good future and a sure hope is much more current. God intends for His children to live in that hope right now. In the midst of the stresses of daily life. In the midst of piled up bills. In the midst of poor health. In the midst of an uncertain economy. In the midst of (name your own trial). God desires for each of us a life of more than just enduring and getting by. He wants for us a life of victory. Jesus told us in John 10:10 "I am come that they (us, His sheep) might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This means a life superior in quality and super-abundant in quantity.

Fear God today and live in His abundance. Hold on to the sure hope that will not be cut off. Don’t look to the example of the lives of those around you but look to the Almighty who holds your life and future in the palm of His hands.