DON’T BE LIKE (PART 2)

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.

Proverbs 25:19      

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Several years ago, I was on a youth mission trip as a team leader and chaperone. We left Virginia Beach and traveled north to Corning, New York, where we divided into three groups and did some much needed house projects for people in need.

On the trip north, all was going well and we decided to stop in a town to take a break and get something to eat. While enjoying some food, I felt something weird in my mouth as I bit down and it was at that moment it happened. One of my teeth, that had been repaired some time before, broke. It wasn’t a clean break and it wasn’t a tooth that was out of sight. No, it was a front tooth that could not be concealed, that is unless I kept my mouth closed all the time and that was unrealistic.

And so, far from my military dental facilities, I rode out the next week and a half until I could return home to get it fixed. It was terribly uncomfortable and even more so unsightly. I wouldn’t have wished that situation on my worst enemy.

As I read today’s proverb from Solomon, I was beckoned back to that day years ago and able to accurately relate to what he was getting at regarding an unreliable person. Look at his words:

Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble. Proverbs 25:19

Once that tooth broke, I no longer had integrity there to eat as I usually would. I was always self-conscious about damaging it further or possibly even biting my lip or cheek with the jagged edge left by the break. I lost my trust in that tooth and what it could do for me.

The same thing would happen if we hurt our foot. I often see people in walking boots as they have injured their foot in some way. Although they are ambulatory, it’s just not the same. As I watch them, they have a defined limp that I imagine is part caused by the cumbersome boot and part caused by the injury they are trying to recover from. I’ve never been in that situation but I can’t help but think it’s frustrating as you are not able to walk naturally as you would when your foot was fully healthy. And as for running, forget about it.  

Well, whether talking about the tooth or the foot, what Solomon is getting at is that the same thing happens when someone we think we can trust to support us in times of need proves to be unfaithful. We lose integrity in a place of our life we thought we could depend on and it leaves us limited in resources we had available and in a place of emotional and psychological discomfort. It leaves us frustrated and disappointed, feeling abandoned and violated, even alone and forlorn.

With this, ask yourself this question:

Do you think the Lord favors someone who is unfaithful to someone who is in need?

I think the answer is obvious. For the Lord who is ever on hand for us, expects us to be on hand for others who need our help. I’ve heard it said before that the greatest ability the Lord wants us to have is availability and I have always found a lot of wisdom in that statement. He first wants us to be available to Him and then available to others, in that order. For when we make ourselves always available to the Lord, He will always direct us to the places He wants us to be, to the places where people need our care and support as we become His hands and feet.

The message here for us from God’s word is to “do not be like” a broken tooth or lame foot when it comes to our service to the Lord and those He will guide us to.

Be faithful. Be trustworthy. Be reliable. Just as the Lord is to you.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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