Focus

(Pro 27:15 KJV)  A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

This one snuck up on me as I was reading.  The comments about nagging wives appear several times in Proverbs and I usually skim over them but today it startled me and I looked at it again.

The comparison is not just to a drip.  There are details.  One is that the drip is “continual” (constant NASB) (2956).  It isn’t just a noise but an ongoing noise.  It isn’t even loud.  I think of the “Japanese water torture” that we always heard about.  It is the incessant repetition that causes the problem.  The definition of the word has the idea of pursuing.

That is all in the “Oh, no!” category.  What I noticed that might help my day is that there is also a “steady rain” (5464) going on.  I love the rain.  I like to sit and listen to it.  It is even better in the dark.  Notice the danger here.  I can let one little irritation keep me from enjoying the big event.  Do you see a lesson in that?  By concentrating on the blessing I can forget about the irritant.  It won’t take the nagging away but it will make it powerless.

So?  If the nag can be dealt with then put some oil on the squeak, so to speak.  If it can’t then focus on all the blessings that are overwhelming.