Enough is enough….right?
I imagine you are tired. I know I am tired. If you have lived enough of life, you may find yourself just wrung out and worn out by life’s trials. It’s part of the human experience. But there’s hope. Proverbs, a book of wisdom found around the middle of the Bible, talks about this.
Proverbs 10:25 (NLT) “When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.”
In this translation, “storms” is plural. Plural is more than one. Many of us are waiting for the day that we don’t have any more storms — emotional ones, financial ones, medical ones, weather ones, etc. But this reminds us that storms are a part of the experience here on Earth. They will keep on coming. The ending of storms is not the source of hope. Keep reading to hear it.
The second part of this verse uses the terms “wicked” and “godly”. Psalms 1:6 also uses the combination of the wicked versus the godly. “For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.” Here in Psalms we see the message: God is watching over the godly, or saved/trusting in Him, and those not saved or trusting in God are on their own paths.
So this gives us a puzzle piece; the hope in Proverbs 10:25 isn’t in the ending of storms but in the foundation for those who trust in God. At Dictionary.com, you’d find “wicked” defined as: “evil or morally bad in principle or practice” with a synonym listed as “sinful”. The same source defines “godly” as: “conforming to the laws and wishes of God” with a synonym of “righteous”. All throughout the Psalms and Proverbs there are mentions of the godly and the wicked. In each, they are put in stark contrast. For everything the wicked do, the godly don’t, and what the godly do, the wicked don’t. Here we have an outside source that defines them as antonyms.
Going back to our original verse, storms wash out, or destroy the wicked. They are using their own devices, and trusting in their own power, or in the end of the storms. The godly are built onto, and into God. Their faith and perseverance during storms help them survive and then thrive. God continues to do all things for His glory (Romans 11:36). We are called to wait for Him (Psalms 27:14). Needless to say, it’s much harder to wait, and with hope, when we are going through the storms of life. Today, call on God’s peace and patience as you wait on Him. He will carry you through the storm and will use it for His glory. He loves you – always.
