Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Do not boast about tomorrow,
    for you do not know what a day may bring.
Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
    an outsider, and not your own lips.
Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
    but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
    but who can stand before jealousy?
Better is open rebuke
    than hidden love.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
    but an enemy multiplies kisses.
One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
    but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

• Proverbs 27:1-7

Proverbs 27:4 ”… jealousy exacts a high toll on the person who embraces it. Because I know that, I’ve tried to be careful of it, but it’s a challenge at times. Each year thirty-one teams watch the Super Bowl champion-the goal they also shared but fell short of. Contracts for coaches get extended at surprisingly high amounts, especially when compared to other occupations. But I always tried to guard against that emotion, because jealous people don’t become embittered just against those who have what they don’t; jealousy colors other relationships as well. Jealous people’s hearts slowly become hardened toward what they know the Lord wants them to think and how He wants them to behave. Jealous people obsess about the object of jealousy, believing that if they get what someone else has, they will be fulfilled. Instead of building others up, Jealousy wants to destroy them.”

• Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker, The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge (from the devotion for 8 August)

The Message

It was Woody Allen who paraphrased an old Yiddish proverb by saying, “If you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans.”  Proverbs 27:1 even states that about tomorrow.  As a project manager, I planned to the end of the project, and I never had that bottleneck in the middle “And then the miracle happens.”  Those who do not plan require miracles, or unpaid work hours, to complete their projects.  But there is no guarantee for any of us that tomorrow will come.  It is only by the Grace of Gad that it does.

When others recognize your good qualities, we should graciously accept the praise, deflecting the praise to those who assisted if possible.  But if we must toot our own horn there was not much there to toot in the first place and we come off as arrogant.

I have been laden by heavy stones.  I have sunk into loose sand.  But the unkind, and usually false accusations by those that mean harm is a much harder burden to bear.

Jealousy can often lead to anger and hate.  Jealousy is covetousness grown amok.  And the bookend commandments produce those in between.

The next two verses go together.  Punishment and rebuke given in love are for our own edification and growth.  But the enemy wishes to lure us away with things that look like affection but are not.  Having been mistreated growing up, and everyone calling it “tough love,” I wonder if hidden love is that kind of thing.  Punishment without correction and edification, making someone tougher but not preparing them for the reasons they should be tough.  Love was definitely not there or hidden.

And I have overeaten in the past so that even my favorite foods did not look appetizing, and I have seen people who had little who would devour dishes that I would not consider edible.  Oddly how some of these exotic foods are gathered by the rich as delicacies, even though they taste terrible.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Hard Fought Hallelujah.  This is sung by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll.  Other than saying “been-through-hell Hallelujah,” this is just a song where these two men may have been through tough times, but they still praise God.  The song may be dark and gritty, but at times, that is what life brings us.  Do we respond with “Hallelujah?”

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Help us to value wisdom.  We may have great plans for our life, but God’s plan is better.  Sometimes it seems we work hard and nobody notices, but tooting our own horn is not the way to be noticed.  That may result in backlashes and accusations that are not true.  It is those things that stick to us more than our true accomplishments at times, but while in the depth of despair we should see You and Your provision rather than comparing to someone who has it easy.  We should accept honest criticism and grow from it.  Show us the honest path, Lord.  In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.