The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (51 page)

July 10

Friendly

     
A man [or woman] who has friends must himself be friendly,

     
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I believe that two of the great skills that we can learn in this life are first to treasure our friends, but more than that, to learn to be a friend who is a treasure to others.

A few days ago I had a no-good, terrible, full-of-frustration day. Probably the bottom line was that I was grumpy. I was tired. I was trying to multitask, and nothing was going smoothly. Anyway, I was grumpy. Then my friend tried to help, and I was grumpy to her. What was her response? She showed up later with a silly card of a little girl crying because her ice cream had spilled on her lap. It made me laugh—laugh at myself—and she laughed with me. Good job, Barbie!

Emily Dickinson, when pondering prosperity and fame said, “My friends are my estate.” I have to agree. True friends love you through thick and thin.

Samuel Coleridge said, “Friendship is a sheltering tree.”

It’s been said, “A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today as you are. A friend is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.” I will add, a true, godly friend is someone who sees your weaknesses and does not talk about them behind your back. She prays for you, forgives you, and stirs you up to grow.

Proverbs 18:24 says, “A [woman] who has friends must [herself] be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (
NKJV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Are you feeling lonely today? Do you wonder why you just don’t seem to connect and make lasting friendships? Let me ask you a question: Are you harboring resentment because someone let you down in the past? Do you often rethink past wounds? Maybe you’ve put a guard up, fearing you’ll be hurt again. Don’t be so afraid of pain—it’s part of life. Will you ask the Lord to soften and change you?

Let’s Pray

O Lord, this wall around my heart is shutting me off from giving and receiving true friendship, I see that. Please help me to forgive and to open my heart again.

One Year Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 9:1–10:14; Acts 27:21-44; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 18:23-24

July 11

The Blame Game

     
A man’s [or woman’s] own folly ruins his life,

          
yet his heart rages against the Lord.

Jon Courson says, “A foolish man doesn’t listen to the Lord, seek the Lord, or walk with the Lord; yet, when he ends up in trouble, who does he blame? The Lord.”

That’s right. That’s exactly what we see in so many people’s lives. I want to talk about how we as women sometimes make bad choices. We cause trouble, get people upset, and burn bridges, but then we blame everyone else, including God. You know what? The blame game has no winners. There’s no prize. No one feels sorry for us. We just dig our own hole deeper.

So if this is you, if you find your life is a tangled mess, just stop pointing your finger at everyone else. Even if others have done you wrong, what you do now and how you live your life from this day on is entirely up to you. God is really for you. Don’t shut him out and don’t shut others out who love you and want to help.

Let me give you a little formula that can give you a place to start. Turn in your Bible to James 4:7-10: “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (
NKJV
).

No matter how deep your hole is, there is no hole so deep that the long arm of our Father in heaven cannot reach you and pull you out.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Personal responsibility is a true sign of wisdom and maturity. The day we stop blaming others—our mothers, our ex-boyfriends or husbands, our mothers-in-law, our churches, and especially God—we are finally growing up.

Once we are willing to take personal responsibility for our own actions and attitudes we can—we will—see that God is for us. He will supply all the strength and guidance we need for a rich and full life.

One Year Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 11:1–12:18; Acts 28:1-31; Psalm 9:1-12; Proverbs 19:1-3

July 12

True-Blue Friendship

     
Wealth brings many friends,

          
but a poor man’s friend deserts him.

Solomon is making a sad commentary, not on the way things should be, but on how, sadly, things often are. As we know, Solomon was very wealthy, famous, and powerful. Maybe he sometimes wondered if some of the people who seemed to be his friends really weren’t. In a way, that would be very sad. J. H. Jowett once said, “The real measure of our wealth is how much we should be worth if we lost all of our money.”

So what is the message and lesson for us as women? Don’t be a fair-weather friend. We live in such a lonely world. Therefore Proverbs 18:24 tells us, “[She] who has friends must [herself] be friendly” (
NKJV
). The best way to have a friend is to be one.

You can have fun going out to lunch or shopping with a friend, but when you walk with her through hardship, you are bonded for life. When David was out of favor and living as a fugitive, Jonathan was a true friend to him. First Samuel 23:16 tells us, “Then Jonathan . . . arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God” (
NKJV
).

Proverb 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a [sister] is born for adversity” (
NKJV
).

Let me close by sharing some fun, important, sweet things friends have done that blessed me. Jewell stopped by with a basket of fruit from her garden. Lynne sent me a package in the mail. Peggy called to talk about what we read that morning in
The One Year Bible
. Maggy called to pray, and Christy sent some pictures her kids had colored for me.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Did you know that God can give you “divine insight”? He can. Would you like to be his ambassador of love? Close your eyes and pray, “Lord, is there someone who needs a message of cheer?” Keep asking until he puts someone on your heart. Then ask him to give you a secret way to deliver something to impart joy, a serendipity. Secretly deliver a pot of flowers, money in an envelope, a gift card for groceries, an uplifting book . . . Let the Lord show you. I guarantee, you will be the one with the biggest smile at the end of the day.

One Year Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 12:19–14:17; Romans 1:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 19:4-5

July 13

Poor

     
All the brothers of the poor hate him;

     
How much more do his friends go far from him!

     
He may pursue them with words,

     
Yet they abandon him.

When you are going through hard times, it is so much harder when you are alone. Our proverb today states that when we need companionship, comfort, and the help of others the most, that is often when we are the least likely to find it. Job found out that was true. Listen to his pitiful words in Job 19:14, 19: “My relatives have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me. . . . And those whom I love have turned against me” (
NKJV).
Wow! He is feeling really low, and we have to remember that he had done nothing wrong. It was not because of his own sin against God or others that he was afflicted.

If you are in a place where you feel really, really poor and really, really alone, who can you turn to? There is no one better than the Lord himself. He has given us the book of Psalms to comfort and encourage us. As I read the Psalms, I always see that I am not the only one who is going through struggles and feeling discouraged. But then the words lead me from that low place to higher ground. They remind me that the Lord has not forgotten or forsaken me. One of the reasons I love reading
The One Year Bible
is that it lays out a psalm to read every day.

Today’s reading includes Psalm 10:14: “But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless” (
NIV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Abraham Lincoln wasn’t just a great president; he was a great man. He was born in poor conditions, his son Willie died at only eleven, he faced intense political opposition and then saw the country endure a civil war. Like Jesus, he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And yet he knew one of the great secrets of life: “To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own.” Will you seek to do that today?

One Year Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 15:1–16:36; Romans 1:18-32; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 19:6-7