Sweet Gravel

"Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth".  Proverbs 20:17

I'm not sure what King Solomon had in mind when he wrote the words above, but what a great description of the consequences of temptation and sin.  It's the sweetness of temptation (or the perceived sweetness) that draws us in and provides the mental justification we need to eat the stolen bread.  But it never stays sweet to the taste, does it?  It quickly turns to gravel in our mouths and brings with it guilt and shame.  If there was no sweetness to it we would never give in to temptation.  Who would ever be tempted to eat a handful of gravel?  I don't think it matters what form the temptation takes (greed, lust, self-pity), there's always the perception that the sweetness of the stolen bread is worth the price we'll pay.  Maybe we should ask the Lord to remind us of what gravel tastes like the next time we think about stealing some bread.


Three Sides to Every Story

An old friend called me yesterday.  He and his wife have been in ministry for all of their 30+ years of marriage, and they're now separated and considering divorce.  I called the wife several weeks ago and heard her side of the story, which is (big surprise) very different from his version of things.  Proverbs 18:17 says, "The first person to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him."  Daphne and I have realized that in counseling there are always three sides to every story: his side, her side and the truth - which usually lies somewhere in-between.  That's why we always prefer to meet with both spouses when it's a marriage problem because no matter how honest and sincere one person seems we're only getting one side of the equation, and we all have an incredible capacity for self-deception when it comes to our own emotional wounds.  There are two things we try to communicate in every counseling relationship: first, we can't want your healing/recovery more than you do (i.e. this will take some hard work, and it's all on your side); second, there's only one person God wants to change in this situation: you.  "But she's the one with all the problems!  I'm the only one seeing this thing correctly."  Really?  It's amazing how often we want to be the Junior Holy Spirit to change someone else, but we can't or won't hear anything God is trying to get through to us.  If every person in the church was able to hear God for themself and if they would listen to what He says, we would be out of a job as counselors.  95% if the time we're so busy looking at everyone else's faults that we never even stop to consider the darkness in our own hearts.  I guess you could call that job security.