Post Sunday July 13

“But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” Proverbs 1:33For the past 7 or 8 years each time my family and I travel down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina I pray immediately leading up to our departure that while we are here for the week that He will reveal one thing that is hindering my walk with Him. I have been traveling to the Outer Banks since the mid-70’s so it has become a very special place for me and now for my family as well. It is not your typical beach resort area with high rises, boardwalks and carnivals so if sought after it can be a very peaceful place. It is a place in which I have since accepting Christ had an easier time listening to God. I’ve been randomly journaling for the past 6 years and as I read back over the entries that I have written while I’m here it is amazing the different areas of my life that God has uncovered that have been in need of a total rehaul or complete transformation.
This year He has actually begun to show me two areas! One of which I’ll briefly begin to work out now with you now and the second not surprisingly will most likely be part of our next “Wicked Smart” lesson from Proverbs on the Sunday that the Craven family returns to New Heights.
So as you read remember it is the beginning of the week so these thoughts are just in the beginning stages!
As we left our home at 3am on Saturday morning and began rolling down S. Park St. in Haverhill from our home, I asked one last time for God to show me something that was hindering my walk with Him. My mind was primed to listen, the car was quiet, except for the occasional excited murmur from my two youngest about how many States we had to drive through in order to get to North Carolina, how many miles it was and what they were going to do first once they got here. But shortly on down 495 they began to nod off. Somewhere in Connecticut my mind began to drift back to when we first began going to North Carolina when I was only about 7 years old and I remembered how different the times where then. I used to walk to my elementary school in 1st grade and it was about a mile from my house! I imagined my kids doing that today and I laughed, no way would that happen! As my mind wandered through my walks to school, I saw in my mind’s eye the part of the walk that brought me by the Middle School and High School. Of course I was walking by older teens that weren’t always the kindest to the younger students, imagine that! Three particular High School students were faithfully at the corner smoking cigarettes and they would faithfully taunt me while I walked by. They would blow smoke at me, comment on my clothing (which being from a poorer family I wore some pretty interesting clothing! I’ll have to show you all a picture of me in my plaid pants and matching jacket! Pretty slick!) I dreaded walking by them and each day as I left my house in the morning I hoped I wouldn’t see them. Not only them, but there was also Old Mac Donald’s house to walk by. Old MacDonald is what all the kids in town called him. I still to this day do not know what his real name was. His home was on the main walking route for all the schools so numerous kids passed by his home every morning and he was always out sitting on his farmer’s porch daring kids to step on his lawn or say something to him. If anyone did he would stand up and begin to hurl insults and curses at whoever was in the vicinity. He would sometimes begin to walk down the porch steps toward whoever was walking by and send us running for cover. Each day I would fear walking through this gauntlet of certain “death.”
Now today we if we saw something like this there would be lawsuits, the school board would be screamed at by parents demanding action to be taken, the police would be called, ABC news would be there wondering why angry Old MacDonald was allowed to be out on his front porch, especially on days he wasn’t wearing a shirt and why teens were allowed to smoke on public sidewalks. But back in the 70s, when we all told our parents about this, they said pretty much what my parents said to me, “Just ignore them and keep walking and you’ll be OK.”
Now this isn’t my recommendation for parenting today in 2008, but looking back on that walk my parents were exactly right. By ignoring these individuals, the taunting was still there, the blowing of smoke was still happening, but by not going back at them, you were allowed to pass through unharmed. There was nothing to fear, they were harmless thugs simply attempting to pick a fight with whoever and whomever was foolish enough to respond to their mindless chatter. They were attempting to pull us all down into a pit with them. They are the ones in which Solomon refers to “For their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood.” Proverbs 1:16
I watched some hurl insults back at Old MacDonald and this only enraged him more and he would attack with greater fury and it was a downright scary sight for a 1st grader. I responded back to one of the smoking high school student’s comments on one walk to school when I just couldn’t take their insults any longer and man did I pay for it. For weeks following they remembered me and would mock my inability to follow up on any of my comments back to them.
As my mind ran through these memories I began to imagine myself at that point knowing that God’s protective arm was about me that if I followed Him with my life that I would be safe. The amazing things is about Proverbs 1:33 is that it teaches us that It isn’t about putting ourselves in a certain place, it is as the verse states, “whoever listens to me…” By listening to God the promise is that we will dwell safely, that we will be secure, without fear of evil. It is not a place, but rather a choice of who we listen to and how we respond to what we have listened to. Listening is in an active state, it carries the weight of actually doing what you are hearing. If I would have listened to my Dad for example and just walked by keeping my mouth shut I would have dwelt safely.
Why this memory God and why this verse? Remember I’m beginning to talk this out in my heart, I know that God is crying out to me about His security, His sufficiency in my life right now, in all areas. So let me ask you all a question that I asked myself to keep these thoughts flowing through me…If we are honestly seeking after God in our lives, if we are honestly seeking to see His will lived out in our lives, then we are most likely finding ourselves in places, in situations that we feel out of our league, face to face with individuals or situations that are against us. So don’t we all if we are honest with ourselves feel like little 1st graders walking through certain gauntlets of “death?”
It may be a relational gauntlet, a work gauntlet, an emotional gauntlet, a ministry gauntlet, a spiritual gauntlet, a financial gauntlet and many more. In these walks that we are taking we all have our Old MacDonald’s yelling at us telling us we won’t make it, to join him on the porch and commiserate with him for the rest of our days. We all have that crowd of people who blow smoke at us tempting us to join them in their self fulfilled acts to take us away from the God filled act that He desires to work through us.
Take some time and discover what it is that you fear to “walk by” and then dig into God’s Word and find out what He desires you to listen to. Remember listening means, hearing and then doing if necessary. Then in bold confidence walk on, knowing that, hey I’m listening to God and He promises that I will dwell safely, I’ll be secure and I will fear no evil!
On a side note and why I’m so sure this is what God is revealing to me….as we sat in church on Sunday at Nags Head Church here at the beach the closing song before we were to exit the auditorium was “Never Let Go.” This was a favorite of the kids during VBS and one of the lines in the song is “If my God is with me, Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear?” As we began to sing that line I felt a small arm go around my waist and I looked down to see my 8 year old daughter Madison, who had just come in from her Sunday School class with a big, beautiful smile on her face singing “Whom then shall I fear.” I smiled back at her and just thought, yeah, whom then shall I fear? Keep listening! Questions to Ask Yourself:
1. Why can God so confidently state that those that listen to Him will dwell safely and securely?
2. Do you feel safe and secure with your walk of life right now? Why or Why Not?
3. What is God speaking to your heart about?
Pastor e