The Well

KNOW ANY FOOLS?

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline…
Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls out to the crowds along the main street, and to those in front of city hall. "You simpletons!" she cries. "How long will you go on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools fight the facts? Come here and listen to me! I'll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you wise.
"I called you so often, but you didn't come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you – when calamity overcomes you like a storm, when you are engulfed by trouble, and when anguish and distress overwhelm you.
"I will not answer when they cry for help. Even though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. That is why they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way. They must experience the full terror of the path they have chosen. For they are simpletons who turn away from me – to death. They are fools, and their own complacency will destroy them. But all who listen to me will live in peace and safety, unafraid of harm."
Proverbs 1:7, 20-33

Well, this is a continuation of what the Lord taught me over the past five and a half years; this is the foundation of God's punishment in a person's life – He refuses to come to their aid when they cry for help if they continuously refuse to acknowledge Him.

If you have worked with wounded people for very long you have probably discovered a foundational truth – they will cry for help, but they want that help to come without any change in their lifestyle. Basically, they want a hand out and not a hand up.

For several years I have wondered what it really means to "mock" God. Well, when He showed me I was literally heartbroken for some people I know (and yes, I was included in this group). These are people who run around claiming to be God's child, but who have no relationship with Him. He gave me a great analogy.

We have four children, two of them who aren't all that actively involved in our lives and two who are. We care about all of them, think of them daily, and communicate at some level with all of them on a regular basis. However, the level of that communication differs. Two of those children know every aspect of our circumstances and the other two don't. However, our next door neighbor's children know nothing about us and we know nothing about them. We don't have a relationship with them. We don't think about them unless they just cross our path. Now, if our children call us for help, we tend to respond according to our relationship with them. Yet, should our neighbor's children call with similar requests we would hesitate.