Proverbs

As part of my devotions, I've been going through Proverbs.   I have to admit that I do not find the Proverbs to be ...hmm...how do I put this.  I don't find them as easy of a read as I do the Psalms.   Most of the Psalms read well, like poetry.   And the Proverbs...it's just a bunch of saying bunched together.  

Sometimes they all connect easily, but other times it's like...huh?  Why did they link those verses together?  and what does this have to do with that?

So it's a bit of a struggle to say the least.  :)     Not that I mind struggles. 

Today I read Proverbs 16-18

These verses from Proverbs 16 caught my attention.
1The plans of the heart belong to man,
   but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
   but the LORD weighs the spirit.
3Commit your work to the LORD,
   and your plans will be established.
4The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
   even the wicked for the day of trouble.

Just think about this for a moment.   We make plans, but God has the final answer.   We have our own thoughts and ideas about things, and we think we have it all figured out, BUT God sees our hearts.   God sees it all, he weighs us out.  He has the final answers to everything...despite what we think or want or plan or....

In some ways I find that a huge comfort.  I know that God knows it all and has the final answer.  There are times when I think...ah...God is weighing out my spirit....Will it meet the measure?   I'd ask what the measure is...but I already know that... God's measure is his own son... He sees his Son in me.   (because I"m a believer)  But what do non-believers have as a ... not sure of the word...I want to say protector but that doesn't seem right... I"ll leave it for now though.    

I have the comfort of knowing that as God weighs my spirit that he will not find me wanting because his spirit resides within me.

I have the comfort of knowing that if I commit my plans to the Lord...which means careful thought and consideration of what the Lord's will might be, and acting as best I can in the light of the 10 commandments.. that my "plans will be established".

God has a purpose for everything...even for the wicked!

I think I will always remember a line I read in a book.  Can't remember the book, but the wise guy was talking with a woman who was just learning how to be an effective queen, and there was a heckler in the crowd.  The man's response to the flustered queen was... perhaps God created that man so that he could come here today to heckle you so that you would more forcely say what you must.    In the book that man's heckling caused this woman to be more queenly and rally the support of the people that she needed so that the really bad guys could be defeated.

So even the wicked have a purpose in life.   God does know what he is doing.

But for such as time as this....God created...that person (in the book).  But it holds true that for Such a time as this...God created me so that I could....Write this blog?  Be a parent?  Be a wife?  A dog-sitter?   Be his child for a certainty.  

What has he created you for ... in such a time as this?