"The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives." Proverbs 18:6-7
I've mentioned before in this blog that I tend to stick a foot solidly in my mouth. The first half of Proverbs 18 is about the consequences of foolishness. Sometimes, those consequences don't hit us right away, but they'll come sooner or later. It's pretty much inevitable, like being grossed out by this cow picture.
All of us have very foolish moments:
- We accidentally ask a woman, "oh, when's the due date?" without checking
- Send the wrong text message to the WRONG person
- Doze off at a light and lightly tap the BMW in front of you (yep, that happened to me)
- Save doing our taxes until the LAST minute
- Continually call a person the wrong name
Yeah, these are funny and mostly harmless. We as humans can endure a lot of stupid things. And yet...
"To answer before listening - that is folly and shame. The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?" v. 13-14
I'm stretching here a bit to make the connection (football game is on). Folly enters our lives because we're human and we make dumb decisions. We get ourselves in a mess, and sometimes it's so overwhelming we don't know how to handle it.
Where do we go when we're overwhelmed?
"The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." v. 10
This is not being chicken. This is being realistic. To this point Solomon has been comparing the pros of following Wisdom and the downfall of following Folly. Wisdom says, "lean on the One who made all things! He's got you! You aren't invulnerable from hurt or pain, but use your head. God is a strong tower!"
Speaking of foolishness... I'm going to go cry while I watch my Huskies get beaten to a pulp by the evil Ducks.
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