“Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”
~ Proverbs 30:8
Hi James and Ellen,
Have there been times when nothing seems to go right for you? Have there been times when every decision that you make seems to be the wrong decision? Have there been times when it seems like you are up against the wall with nowhere to turn? Do you sometimes think that you will be able to make everything go right for you? Do you sometimes think that every decision that you make is the right decision? Do you sometimes think that you know everything? Your grandpaa has learned that God is going to give him a wakeup call when he begins to think that he can control everything, when he begins to think that what he says is right on target and when he begins to think that he is the authority on whatever. When your grandmaa and grandpaa were missionaries on South America Mission’s field missionary team in Bolivia, they had to each complete a monthly ‘progress’ report. These monthly ‘progress’ reports where to be sent to South America Mission’s headquarters in Lake Worth, Florida. After your grandmaa and grandpaa filled out and sent in several monthly ‘progress’ reports, your grandpaa begin voicing a concern about how a monthly ‘progress’ report was not really reflecting what the husband and wife of a missionary couple were doing living life together in their host country. When your grandpaa asked if he and your grandmaa could complete a monthly ‘progress’ report together instead of sending in separate monthly ‘progress’ reports, they were given the okay to complete the monthly ‘progress’ report in a single monthly report. At the end of South America Mission’s monthly ‘progress’ report, a missionary on the South America Mission field team missionary could write whatever. After your grandpaa was asked by South America Mission to be the Field Director for their field missionary team that was in Bolivia, your grandpaa received one day a photocopy from South America Mission’s headquarters of a monthly ‘progress’ report that one of the field team missionaries sent to South America Mission’s headquarters. The morning that your grandpaa received the photocopy was the day that he and your grandmaa were planning to leave for a chalet that is located between Santa Cruz – which was where your grandmaa and grandpaa were living, and Tambo – which was the boarding school where your dad and Aunt Lynn went to school most of the time when they were in Bolivia. The missionaries on South America Mission field missionary team had given your grandmaa and grandpaa a two-day getaway as a 25th wedding anniversary gift. Your grandpaa could easily write a full page on all the confusion that came with this well-intentioned gift but . . . your grandpaa’s frustrations of going on this getaway were really compounded when your grandpaa received in the mail the photocopy from South America Mission’s headquarters of this field team missionary’s monthly ‘progress’ report – which really lambasted your grandpaa on the job that he was doing as the Field Director over South America Mission’s field missionary team in Bolivia.
Even though you know that you are smart, have you ever felt because of what another kid has said about you or has told you – or because you did not do well on a test – or because your dad and/or ma did not affirm you for doing something well that you really are not smart, insightful and/or wise and that the proof that a Divine Being exists really does not mean anything to you? Doing self-denigrating can become a default mindset for a guy, gal or kid who has never been prompted by God – as God the Spirit, to go to and through the grace/faith door into the ‘body of Christ’ through making a decision of faith by accepting God – as God the Son, as his or her Lord and Savior. Agur – in an oracle, one day explained to two guys – whose names were Ithiel and Ucal, that having a heart understanding of God – as God the Father, is not really all that hard to achieve. Agur – in Proverbs 30, tells Ithiel and Ucal that every word that God speaks is completely flawless and that God will always be a shield for every guy, gal and kid who takes refuge in Him. Agur – in verse 8, mentions a prayer to Ithiel and Ucal that he probably prayed often to God, “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” Agur went on to tell Ithiel and Ucal that he knew that if he had more wealth than what he needed, that he might forget the blessings that he is experiencing from God – and that if he did not have enough money for living necessities, that he might turn to stealing and lose the blessings that he is experiencing from God.
Agur tells the two guys who he was mentoring that he does not want them to ever become like a leech who has two daughters who have the names of Give Me and Give Me. Agur tells Ithiel and Ucal that they are to be like ants, coneys, locusts and lizards. Ants – in spite of their size, are able to store up food. Coneys – in spite of not being strong, find holes in rocky crags to make their homes. Locusts – in spite of not having a leader, march resolutely forward. Lizards – in spite of being able to be caught, find places to live in palaces. Just as Agur was helping Ithiel and Ucal to be wise and perceptive to everything around them, your grandmaa and grandpaa are praying that you will always have Agurs in your lives who will help you be wise and perceptive versus having guys, gals and kids in your lives who will find ways to dishearten you and that you will be Agurs in the lives of other guys, gals and kids.
Proverbs 30 (960)