Suddenly Destroyed – Without Remedy
Daily Reading: Genesis 29, Psalm 29, Mark 1, Proverbs 29
“Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”
Psalm 29:1
I think we all know people that fit this description. There are just some people that refuse to listen to feedback…over and over and over again.
The results can be devastating.
Companies going under because of a leader that refused to listen to feedback.
Individuals or families facing financial ruin as a result of repeated poor choices, despite all of the advice they received over the years.
A broken marriage when one or both of the spouses will simply not put in the work to make it better, even with consistent conversations with friends, mentors, and counselors.
Parents and children with no relationship after it deteriorated over the years.
Failing health after a lifetime of eating poorly, refusing to stay active, and never embracing all of the little life habits we have all heard repeatedly our entire lives.
“Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”
It is always easiest to see this happening to others.
We are all experts at looking at the lives of others and seeing the area of their lives that may be heading for the sudden destruction without remedy we read about in Proverbs today.
In those moments, when we see this happening to folks we care about it can be easy to ask, “How can they not see what is coming?”
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Today, I want to quiet my mind and heart enough to ask God, “Is there any area in my life where I am heading towards that cliff? Have I been stiff necked recently? Open my eyes.”
The challenge with being stiff necked after many rebukes, is that we frequently don’t realize we are doing it. We truly believe that the other people are in the wrong, or that they simply don’t understand our circumstance as well as we do.
My prayer today is that God would grant all of us the humility to listen.
My hope is that we could all slow down enough to contemplate where we may be a tad stiff necked in our lives currently.
Even if there is no area of your life heading towards complete destruction without remedy, there may simply be an area that is fairly rocky at the moment and could use a little course correction.
Let’s not be stiff necked.
Let’s not be the mocker that refuses to hear advice.
“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.”
Psalm 3:13-14
Let’s embrace wisdom today.
Daily Reflection & Dialogue
In what area of your life have you been most resistant to receiving advice recently? Where might God be calling you to make changes, whether they be big or small?
