Eating the Bitter Fruit

Scripture: When a storm of terror surrounds you, and when you are engulfed by anguish and distress, then I will not answer your cry for help. It will be too late though you search for me ever so anxiously. For you closed your eyes to the facts and did not choose to reverence and trust the Lord, and you turned your back on me, spurning my advice. That is why you must eat the bitter fruit of having your own way and experience the full terrors of the pathway you have chosen. For you turned away from me—to death; your own complacency will kill you. Fools! But all who listen to me shall live in peace and safety, unafraid. Proverbs 1:27-33

Observation: Wisdom herself shouts in the streets, tell all who hear her to listen to wise words. She calls them fools for not listing, warning of the hard times that will befall them if they ignore wisdom.

What will the outcome be for those who ignore wisdom? When storms and terror surround them and they are fully anguished and in distress, they will have no understanding to help them ... wisdom will not be there to help them, for it will be too late.

Why will this happen? Because the people intentionally rejected wisdom and spurned the advice, which is to honor and trust in the Lord. For this, they will experience bitterness and terror.

What will happen for those who listened to wisdom? They will live in peacefully and unafraid

Application: The Lord cannot spell it out much clearer than this. The words to describe the past 10 months are the same as these ... fear, rage, bitterness, hardship, anguish, anxiety, distress, even complacency in the face of death. There is one cause of this, and that is actively choosing to reject the Lord. By choosing not to trust in the Lord, the fools choose to trust in aspects of the world that can be lost.

Again, it cannot be clearer. The Lord pronounces wisdom ... trust in him. Most of us who do may be frustrated to the point of anger, but that is directed toward both circumstance and the acts of the foolish, otherwise we are living is peace, safely but unafraid.

On the other hand, I cannot even listen anymore to so many people whose lives are overrun with fear, hate, anxiety, and the overwhelming hardships of their daily circumstance. They cry for help, but the Lord himself has declared he will not answer, it is too late even though they now search for understanding. These people are surrounded by 'a storm of terror', 'engulfed by anguish and distress.' But they have rejected the wisdom of faith ... they have no choice but to eat the bitter fruit.

Prayer: Lord, you are my wisdom. I seek improvement every day, and so often fail. However, at the core, my true wisdom is simply knowing that the meaning of life is to honor and obey you, and seek your truth through faith in Jesus Christ. I do pray for those who have rejected your wisdom, Lord. May their hearts change. May they truly reject their past spurning of you, and turn their hearts to you, in the pursuit of peace, safety, and wisdom. Amen.