‘A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions…’ Proverbs 27:12 NLT
Half Dome is a granite peak that towers above the valley floor in Yosemite National Park. Your final climb is between steel cables bolted to the rock; they were designed as handholds to safeguard and help you reach the top. Columnist Mary Hunt writes: ‘The final ascent up the sheer granite surface…is by far the most challenging. Once you see the cables you experience terror like you’ve never known… and you’ve no choice but to finish the trip. At that moment you’re thankful for cables that become the guardrails you need to pull yourself to the top. The secret to [continuing] when you feel like quitting is to erect ‘cables’ in your life before you need them so that when you face difficult situations, the help you need to make it will be there to protect you from your own fears and self–defeating attitudes.’ Solomon says, ‘A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.’ Sooner or later you’ll face a mountain you can’t conquer alone. And if the ‘cables’ you need are in place, you’ll conquer it. What are they? (1) God’s Word. Jeremiah said, ‘Your words…sustain me…’ (Jeremiah 15:16 TLB) Get into God’s Word, and get God’s Word into you. That way, when trouble comes you’ll be able to handle it. It’ll ‘…guide you when you walk…guard you when you sleep…speak to you when you are awake.’ (Proverbs 6:22 NCV) (2) A strong prayer life. ‘…The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]…’ (James 5:16 AMP) Time spent with God changes you; it makes you more like Jesus and strengthens you for what lies ahead.
SoulFood: 2 Chr 12-15, Mark 7:14-23, Ps 119:105-112, Prov 21:28-31
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2015
