Overthrown by God

“The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.” (Pr 21:12 AV)

 

The righteous one will wisely consider if the house of the wicked can be overthrown.  He wisely looks at it to see if it is a battle he can win.  The suggestion is, the battle is too big for him to win, but not too big for God to win.  Solomon, as king, could have fought innumerable battles.  He was surrounded by God-hating pagans.  He has Syria to the north and Egypt to the south.  He has the Assyrians to the east.  The only escape he has was to the sea on the west.  If he picked a battle with the house of the wicked which he could not win, then he would lose everything.  Solomon is teaching his son; soon to be king; the better part of wisdom is to allow God to deal with the enemy.  We can stand in awe of a threat and wonder if we will ever survive.  It doesn’t need to be mankind.  It can be anything.  It could be a health issue, a financial crisis, or a relationship issue.  They loom large and daunting.  We wonder if we can ever overcome it or beat it back.  We cannot.  But God can.  This is the lesson of our proverb.  We all face monsters.  Sometimes those monsters are external.  Sometimes they are internal.  Sometimes our monsters involve others.  Sometimes they involve a maturity or character issue.  But we all have them.  Trying to beat them on our own is utter foolishness.

This proverb reminds me of the first time Joshua went against AI.  He took the minimal compliment he thought he needed to conquer the city.  He tried twice and each time was beaten back by a much smaller compliment.  What he didn’t know was Achan took of the accursed thing from the victory at Jericho and God was not blessing their effort at AI.  When Joshua looked up at AI, he saw a very small city without much defense.  In his own logic and reasoning, he figured easy peasy.  Not a problem.  But when he was beaten back twice, he had a newfound respect for the adversary.  He looked up at the house of the wicked and concluded they could not be beaten.  This account is one of the times God tells someone to stop praying.   The answer was right in front of him.  There was sin in the camp.  The house of the wicked was impenetrable because there was sin in the camp and because God was not with them.  It did take much.  All they had to do is deal with Achan and pray.  God answered and AI fell.

We may have a Goliath in our lives.  It might be an AI.  Solomon has his share of enemies.  His son would too.  The point is to not admire the wicked for their strength, allowing them to defeat you even before you approach the situation.  They may seem as though they are blessed, but God is far bigger and He has the ultimate say.  Our monster may not be the Wicked.  Perhaps it is a more personal challenge that seems to be allowed to advance unabated.  We can admire our adversary and their success at inflicting harm.  But God has the ultimate move.  Whatever we face, and no matter how big it may seem, God is always bigger.  He is always in control.  He will deal with that to which we stand in awe.  He will deal with our troubles and trials.  They will not last forever and God has it all planned in the light of eternity.  We may look up at the tower that is before us and feel as though we can never escape its shadow, but the one providing the sun which causes the shadow is far greater!  God can, and does, work on behalf of His children.  He is mightier.  You will prevail.  Just put Your faith in Him for a much smoother ride on your way to eternal life.