As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. (Proverbs 27:19 NIV)
Whenever I encounter specific scripture in the word of God, I feel like the revelation takes me back like a time machine. For some reason, I’m reminded of my childhood memories, and the connection is therapeutic. Being of African descent, I grew up in an environment where I heard the sayings of old wise tales and African proverbs. You know, the generation that didn’t mind sitting at the feet of the older folks and allowed them to impart wisdom. My generation was less high-tech than today’s generation. Still, it was an honor and a privilege to sit attentively in the presence of experience and wisdom for storytime. We didn’t have the advantage of watching TV all day because television only came on from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. We spent most of our time outside playing games like Hide-and-seek, Hopscotch, Simon Say, etc. We gathered around the fire for storytime, listening to fiction, non-fiction, theatrical genres, and sayings when we were not playing. What a time! I must admit that before I was 10, I had more wisdom than the average kid because I was talking and acting like I had been around the block, forgot something, and came back around the block if that made sense.
For the most part, some sayings still live rent-free in my head today, such as, “The way you make your bed, that’s how you will lay in it; you can make it soft or hard.” Or the “Apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” My all-time favorite is, “By their fruit, we shall know them.” Looking back now, I had no idea these sayings would have impacted my life, but unfortunately, they did. The older I get, the more profound the meaning seems to be, and now I understand that the older folks’ wisdom is the guiding essence of who we are and what we are becoming. I said all this to say our lives reflect what we have been exposed to or accustomed to.
As we expound on the extensive meaning of wise sayings, what better insight to gain than from the Book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom written by the man of all knowledge, King Solomon himself? You may know a lot about yourself, but the Book of Proverbs is one of the best practical teaching guides for unveiling the hidden treasures of intricate wisdom in life. Let’s get into it: In Proverb 27:19, King Solomon gave a divine perspective of the reflection of life as it pertains to the heart. I don’t know about you, but this verse speaks volumes. For instance, we are all guilty of this when we encounter people who expect us to know or understand what was not conveyed or communicated. Our famous go-to sayings are: “I can’t read your mind” or “I don’t know what’s on/in your heart.” In other words, time is precious, and we don’t want to take the time to read between the lines or figure out what’s going on in a person’s mind or heart. Say what you mean!
On the contrary, in Proverb 27:19, King Solomon introduced a mind-blowing, weighty insight that our life mirrors our hearts. I’m warming up! In other words, we don’t need to look into a person’s heart to know what is going on to understand because it is plain as day; like looking in clear water reflects a person’s face, so does a person’s life reflect their heart. Catch this: the quality of one’s life reflects one’s heart’s condition, which ties in with the synergy of emotions, desires, and intentions. Better yet, our behavior, actions, attitudes, and motives all describe the condition of our heart, and it’s as clear as water reflects one’s face, good or bad. For example, Proverbs 4:23 says, “Out of our heart flows the issues of life.” Good flows from a healthy heart, and evil from a sick heart. The question becomes, what is the condition of your heart? Have you identified the effect it might be having on your life? If not, I challenge you to allow God to reveal the unhealthy areas (such as offense, anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, and unforgiveness) from your heart that need healing so you live a purpose-driven and prosperous life that mirrors a healthy heart.
Two Things God Needs to Act
We all heard the saying, “Let go and let God.” Easy said than done, right? For some, depending on life’s dynamic at the moment, this saying can usher in a sense of hope, peace, and solitude. For others, we can immediately be triggered by this saying because it’s a call and response that could take us out of our comfort zone, which might lead to some form of resistance. Letting go can give a sense of a Pandora’s box of sentimental areas dear to our hearts, like people, habits, time, money, things, pride, and most of all, our familiarity. You see, we are creatures of habits, and there are patterns that we have conditioned ourselves to, which have allowed us to function according to our own moral compass or societal standards. In other words, letting go and letting God can be rewarding or an inconvenience if it requires us to make drastic changes.
With this in mind, there is a constant tug-of-war between our will and God’s will. On one hand, we desire to let God have His way; on the other, we want to have our way. We find ourselves between a rock and a hard place in these instances. There is also this defining unrest within our souls with a buzzing alarm calling for help. Whether we want to consider it, we long for God’s saving grace and deliverance. Even though we want to have our way, we know it will only lead to a dead end because our struggles and trials sometimes challenge us on a sinking ship. Where can we go from here? Come with me on a road trip to one of my all-time favorite writers of the Old Testament, King David, and let’s learn how the Lord comforts him.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
(Psalm 37:5 ESV)
At the beginning of Psalm 37, we gather that David, in his distress, is being comforted by the Lord. Whatever he was going through at the time, from these verses leading to verse 5, we concluded that he was afraid, and God was restoring his confidence by telling him not to fear, with the understanding that his enemies do not have the upper hand. The Lord reassured him to trust in God and continue to do good, for David will enjoy and dwell in the land of safety. If so, David would delight himself in the Lord, and God would grant him the desires of his heart.
The turning point of our verse of the hour presents the term and condition. God needs two things from us to act on our behalf. When experiencing seasons of opposition and life storms raging war against us, we must commit our way, trust God, and allow Him to act on our behalf. You may ask what you mean; let’s dive in deeper. As discussed, we must be willing to commit ourselves, time, people, things, and anything in our lives that is entirely contrary to God’s will. Again, you ask, how do we trust God? We acknowledge, believe, rely on, take comfort, find rest, take residence, and, most importantly, surrender our hearts to the Lord. In doing so, God will show us that there is more for us than those against us. He will open the windows of heaven of protection and blessings that we won’t have room to contain.
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“Subjected To Chains”
“No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.” (Mark 3:27)
Story Time: One of the most profound memories is when I was around 11, growing up in Liberia, West Africa. A friend of my grandma’s was a minister of a small deliverance church community that housed women with special needs or, should I say, under demonic influence whose families and society had ostracized them. I don’t remember her name because it’s been 36 years since our encounter, but she visited with my grandma, and the moment she looked at me, she saw something special. I didn’t know what prophecy was about then, but I overheard her telling my grandmother that God would use me mightily and that His hedge of protection was all around me. Looking back over my life and all I’ve been through; I can only say BUT GOD!!!
It was a while later when Grandma took me to visit her church. It was what I now understand as a mighty move of God. I witnessed women who knew how to evoke the presence of God with their worship experience because they spent time with Him. In the service, from adults to children, all prostrated and soaked in their tears in the presence of God. After spending the day with her, she asked if I would like to help her around the church sometimes, and without hesitation, I excitedly hinted at my grandma’s yes. Not long after our visit, my grandma agreed that I would stay with her for a week. Grandma was our only parent figure then, and my parents were in the US trying to establish a better life for their three daughters.
Meanwhile, I was excited to be in a new environment that allowed my curiosity to explore and learn new things. To learn more, I wanted to get familiar with and understand the different women who lived there and the type of care that the church provided daily. Of all the women with special needs, one exceptional lady constantly made weird squeaking sounds without eye contact and refused to leave her room. I took a particular interest in her and wanted to know her story. I was made aware she was once the town’s beauty queen and loved by everyone. However, some jealous friends tried destroying her life by poisoning her food; instead of killing her, she survived but lost her mind. Hearing her story forever changed my life, and even now, I’m still impacted by how one misguided move can change the trajectory of our entire lives. You may ask how the story relates to the above verse; be patient and keep reading because the revelation will blow your mind.
In context, to lay out the background, the book of Mark, chapter 3, starts with observing the Jewish Sabbath, the day of rest and holy sacrament to cease all labor. Jesus went into the synagogue and immediately noticed a man with a shriveled hand. The religious leaders, as always, watched Him to see if He would keep the Sabbath. Without hesitation, Jesus posed the scenario with these questions by telling the man to stand up in front of everyone and ask them “if it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or evil, to save life or kill.” With complete silence, they angered Him; He told the man to stretch out his hand, and He healed him.
As we go further into the chapter, the scribes were angry with Jesus for disobeying the Sabbath and called Him Beelzebub, the spirit of a demon. You see, Jesus is always aware and concerned about our infirmities and sufferings. He is willing to go to great lengths for our healing and deliverance. Foundationally, as we travel through the text before we get to verse 27, Jesus, in His infinite wisdom, addressed the accusation of Him having the spirit of the devil, which is why He can cast out devils. Responded with this, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” in other words, make it make sense. Again, He said, “If a kingdom is divided against itself or a house divided against itself, it cannot stand.” Point exactly! Let the church say Amen. In verse 27, for more context, Jesus continues to elaborate without further due.
On the other hand, here comes our verse of the hour. In Mark 3:27, Jesus continues to elaborate that a thief cannot break into a strong man’s house without ensuring he is not a threat by first binding him up and then stealing what he has. Let’s go deeper: To overtake someone physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually strong. It will require finding a way in which strength is not dominant to restrict the capacity to resist but place a restraint that overpowers their strength. Owoo, I feel my help is coming; catch this revelation. We are good actors in showing our strengths but are great at masquerading our weaknesses. Here goes another revelation: The enemy is after what is hidden, not what is seen. Satan’s strategy is to tie or bind us up where we are weak to access our possessions or the gifts and blessings that God has given us for success. For example, our strength is our shield of protection, and our weakness is the key to our prison or bondage.
Can I preach to you? Let’s look at another example of a familiar story of Samson in the book of Judges: Just like Samson, his enemies, the Philistines, were after his secret bind him up. Undoubtedly, no one could overpower Samson; he was the strongest man of his time, so the enemy pursued his weakness. Again, like Samson, the devil is not after your strength but your weakness. Now, let’s return to the story of the exceptional lady I mentioned earlier. I often wonder how she went from being the most popular to being stripped of her beauty and existence.
As has been noted, the revelation that I gathered from these stories is that our strength is only sustainable by God’s wisdom and guidance. In essence, let’s give God room where we are vulnerable or weak and allow Him to perfect those areas that give the enemy a foothold in our lives.