You Choose Your Own Destiny

Proverbs 1:20-33

“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.” (Proverbs 1:20-23)

Wisdom is defined as Judging rightly and following the soundest course of action based on knowledge, experience, and understanding according to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, frequently referred to as common sense.  Unfortunately, as has been stated repeatedly, “there is nothing so uncommon as common sense.”

It is not like the necessary teaching and experience is not available.  Everywhere we look in life we see examples of what happens as a result of different actions.    If we just pay attention, we can see what happens when a person places too much weight on a shelf or how people react when we hit them.  We can then predict what will happen when the same things are done in another situation and decide whether that is what we want to happen. 

Thoughtless and foolish people go through life without paying attention to things around them.  Because they had not observed that the tree had died and begun to rot, they are caught unprepared when it falls on their house.   Because they ignore the fact that an ice storm may knock down the power lines they are caught with no heat during winter storms.    Foolishly they make fun of those who try to warn them of the consequences of their actions, and refuse to learn from the things they see around them.  

There is a saying that life is hard, but it is a lot harder when you are stupid.  When you refuse to learn from the things around you and from other people’s experiences, you force yourself to go through unnecessary hardship.   The natural events continue to happen and give us examples that we can learn from, enabling us to develop a new attitude or spirit toward what is happening and making it easier to learn.  It is impossible to teach people who don’t want to learn.

“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.” (Proverbs 1:24-27)

Because people have deliberately ignored the examples and experiences they have had, refusing to learn from them, joking about it and mocking those who try to warn them, nature itself will make a joke of them.  When they panic over what is happening they will be unable to find effective answers because they have refused to learn.  Ultimately they will be destroyed by their failure to learn.

“Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.” (Proverbs 1:28-30)

When disaster strikes and they finally realize they could have avoided the problems, it will be too late to resolve them.  Because they have refused to recognize God’s power and principles and assumed they could make thing s work as they wanted them, all they can do at that point is suffer the consequences of not having taken proper action earlier, waiting until things recover.    

“Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.  For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.   But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” (Proverbs 1:31-33)

People tend to develop a victim mentality that the things they go through are not their fault, but of those around them.  The reality is that while bad things may have happened to you, it is your choice how you react to them and how they affect you.   No matter what you were taught or how you were treated as a child or what happened to your ancestors, it is your own choice whether you continue to follow that same way of acting.  If you want real change you have to learn to do things differently.  You can’t just change the rules.