I opened my eyes from a quick prayer asking God to reveal something powerful to me from His Word that morning. Then I flipped to the Proverb of the day, chapter 18, and stopped after the first two verses.
When I asked God to reveal what I needed to learn, this was not the direction I envisioned Him taking this, but I heard Him loud and clear. I read the verses another 10 times, each time hearing God say, “This is what I want you to remember today!”
A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment.
A fool has no delight in understanding,
But in expressing his own heart.
~Proverbs 18:1-2
“But I like people!” I insisted with God. “What are you trying to tell me?”
The more I thought, the more I realized my tendency to keep to myself when I’m struggling or when I make a goal. It’s easier for me not to “bother” people with my problems or to feel less adequate because I’m “just now” getting around to setting a goal. I argue that I’m doing them a favor.
Eventually, I’ll open up in a blog post or to a trusted friend, but the entire time I’m sharing, I feel guilty. I want to just stop talking and hide on an island somewhere. (Preferably a tropical one with a constant food supply plus an umbrella, chair, and stack of good books.)
But this isn’t God’s plan. He blatantly stated that I should not isolate myself. It’s selfish, He says!
He wants me to seek the counsel of others. Thankfully, He emphasizes throughout the Bible the importance of choosing Godly people to give counsel, so I don’t have to go spill out my life’s struggles to every random person I meet, but I must go out of my comfort zone and share my heart with those I love and trust. I need them to encourage and motivate me to press on or see where I need to change. I need them to hear and love the ugly side of me, too. I need them to give me a fresh perspective.
I love the second verse’s instructions as well. When I do share my struggles with someone, I must go into it wanting to do more than just vent my feelings. I must go into it with a desire to better understand what I need to learn from the circumstances.
These are the verses God won’t let me stop meditating on this week. What about you? Also, it’s not too late to join in with my friends and me as we memorize at least one Bible verse per month for this year! Check out this post for more details.
Oh, man. That second verse is super convicting to me. I don’t know how many times I’ve told Matt, “I don’t want you to try to fix this… I just want you to listen while I vent.” Yikes! That puts a new perspective on it. Thanks! 🙂
I’m still working through that verse myself, Desiré. I need to study more of what the Bible says about venting.
I am so bad at isolating myself, even from my family 🙁