Proverbs 22.3 3 The prudent sees danger and hides
himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. (ESV)
I knew it was
in here somewhere: Fools rush in where
angels fear to tread. Okay, well maybe not; but how about this: the wise recognize and the simple suffer.
A friend of mine posted this on Facebook: "You are the constant in all of
life's changings." In every season and for every reason we remain the same
in the face of danger, or a stranger; and anguish and anger. The difference is
whether or not we are a prudent student of what we encounter or a simpleton.
There is much to be said for simplicity: the art of living focused on the things that are important as opposed to what society says is important. A simple life is an uncomplicated life.
A simple life is one unhampered by so much strife. It is a different matter
entirely when one is a simpleton. There is a willful burying of one’s head in
the sand rather than intentionally accepting what is at hand and doing
something about it.
The prudent sees danger and hides himself from it – he clearly
sees danger as off-limits and does his best to flee to safer ground. Danger
will attack whatever it is attracted to and whatever it can see, but the
prudent camouflages himself against the attack of danger. The simple however, do
not: Fools rush on where angels and the
prudent fear to tread.
This spoke to me today because of my past experiences
with simpleton-ness. There is a certain willfulness to being simple. Being
simple isn’t exclusive to the non-smart: there are many very well educated,
intelligent, and well-to-do people who are simple: they lack the capacity to
recognize danger and from it, hide themselves . I can think of numerous occasions
where I simply, willfully plunged into simple and paid a dear price for my
simple-ness. Oh, that I could go back and un-do some of the mistakes I’ve made
just by being simple.
The simple go on – they couldn’t care less about
consequences; and they probably don’t even stop to consider them. The simple go
on because they reason that by somehow doing the same thing over and over they’ll
somehow achieve different results. The simple go on because they don’t want to
go any other way.
I want to learn from this and from the non-biblical, but appropriate saying: fools (the simple) rush in where angels (and
the prudent) fear to tread. I want to be taught to stop being simple and
having to learn that simple ought to hurt. I want to quit fooling myself that
danger isn't real; and ignoring it won’t make it go away.
Father, at this point there isn’t much I can do about my
simple past, but there is something I can learn for the near and distant
future: The prudent sees danger and hides
himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. Help me to see. Help me to
realize my simple-ness and simple tendencies and to learn. I can’t erase the
past but I can learn from it – and with Your help I can hide from real danger…even
the kind I come up with all on my own…
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