TODAY’S DEVOTION (Tuesday 14th April 2020)
“Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, rather than a fool in his folly. Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.” Proverbs 17:12-13 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 105th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Let us begin with some promptings. Have you ever wondered why people move from one persistent problem to another spiritually, financially, physiologically, or in their marriages? Have you wondered why some lives just seem not to be free from problems?
In a sense, no man will ever be free from problems because we live in an imperfect world. That is why there are good problems and there are bad problems. Good problems are welcome but bad ones are not needed. To be moving from one bad problem to another is not the will of God for anyone.
Bad problems include sicknesses and diseases, poverty and lack, trouble marriages and destructive relationships, death, and sorrows of death, etc. When another man or woman takes over your marriage, it is a bad problem. When you try moving on in life and you are not having headway, it is a bad problem.
There are no words to describe what bad problems are. We all know them. The world is plagued by bad problems. That is why we need the wisdom of God.
But good problems are different. They are the challenges that are attached to a life of prosperity, sound health, and right relationship with God, a peaceful and trouble-free life and etc. They are the challenge attached to living in an incredibly beautiful place, maintaining bliss in marriage, or keeping productive relationships.
When a woman is pregnant and she is going through the “problems” that are related to the development, it is s good problem. You do not pray against that. When a lady gets married and she need to stay awake some nights to keep her marriage blissful it is a good problem.
Marriages sometimes grow sour when spouses treat good problems as bad problems. I have seen men and women who destroyed their marriages by refusing to give their husbands or wives the legitimate things they want in their relationships – food, sex, and comfort. Things they truly have, but foolishness will not let their hearts give them out to each other.
A God-fearing man once told me that he had to use the Bible to convince his wife to submit herself for sex all the time before she does. The wife later confirmed it to me. She said there are seasons she hates having sex, and I marveled.
IS IT NOT BETTER TO DO WHAT YOU HATE IN OTHER TO KEEP WHAT YOU LOVE?
Well, the result of her foolishness was terrible. The man started sleeping with the wife’s younger sister and even got her pregnant. Good problems are usually attached to all good things that happen to mankind on the face of the earth. If we treat them as bad problems, we will destroy the good things they usually protect.
Ladies have destroyed their marriages for seeing cooking for their husbands especially in odd hours as a problem. My mum can cook anytime for my Dad! Others have destroyed their marriages by seeing submission in all things as a problem. Men have also destroyed their lives for seeing “loving a submissive wife according to scriptures” a problem.
Some have left Good men of God and forfeited blessings because of the responsibility or “problems” of having a good Pastor over your life. Others have departed from good wives and husbands because of the responsibility of having them.
Personally, I have come to discover that most ladies know how to manage bad husbands than good ones. They are gifted in putting up with bad men and lack the wisdom to manage good ones. That is why when God blesses them with good husbands they will maltreat and ill treat them until they men give up on them.
The same is applicable to some men!
If you have the wisdom to manage bad things and lack the wisdom to retain good ones, your life will never be free from troubles. Good things will always be going away from you!
Marriages grow sour or break down altogether, finances disappear, and bad things set in when we treat good people badly because of the challenge of having them in our lives. Good problems are sent to protect the good things of life. If you eliminate them, you have eliminated the good things they came with.
This month has been for us our month of divine wisdom. We need to ask the LORD for the wisdom to manage the good things of life. Sometimes we can be so concerned with managing the bad that we forget the good.
A key highlight in our devotional text today says, “Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house”. It is easy to reward evil for good if you do not know how to manage the good.
PERSISTENT PROBLEMS ARE CAUSED BY REWARDING EVIL FOR GOOD.
The woman I stated earlier who refused her husband the legitimate, rewarded evil for all the good the man had done for her and ended up planting two abominations in her house – adultery and her husband getting her sister pregnant.
God did not design our planet to bless people who reward evil for the good done to them. That is why we must be careful.
For instance, if you forget people who took care of you when you were trying to succeed after you have succeeded, your success will one day breed worms and devour you. If you forget your parents who took care of you when they are in need, the Bible says your protection will be removed.
If you do not reciprocate good deeds with good deeds, you will open a wide door for bad ones to be happening to you. That is what the wisdom of God teaches.
Learn to manage good things by making sure that you treat the problems attached to having them in such a way that you will not reward evil for good!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY!
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 17:15 NKJV