Not a Coward

Proverbs 27:12 (KJV) A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Americans tend to channel John Wayne.  We tend to take things head-on and think that our courage, honor and bravery will triumph.  Sometimes that’s the way to go, other times it is better to be “prudent.”  And what does prudent mean in this situation?  It means hiding.  I don’t think that means actually going into a closet, huddling down and covering ourselves with a blanket.  It could simply be a matter of not walking through the door.  It could be a matter of not reading a certain book or magazine article.  It definitely could be avoiding certain movies or entertainments. It is the prudent thing to do.

The hard part is knowing when we should stride forward with confidence that God will protect us, and when we are supposed to avoid the “evil.”  That is where discernment, knowing our scriptures, listening to the Holy Spirit and being willing to be obedient are so crucial.

So?  The place to start is in reading the scripture but we do that with an awareness that the Holy Spirit is going to try and speak to us.  The value in scripture is not how many verses we read, but carefully listening to what they might want to say to us.