The Hidden Word

Don't you just love when God wakes you up with a scripture for your day? Me too; most of the time...  What if it's 4:00 AM? What if the scripture is Proverbs 14:1 "A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands"? 

Now I have read that verse countless times, about once a month on the 14th of each month, but I assure you that I have never worked to memorize that one. That one has never been written on a note card to hang on my mirror or slipped into my back pocket to be viewed throughout the day. I haven't spent time meditating on this verse, nor have I really even pondered it. 

Of course I have always assumed myself to fit into the "wise" category in this verse. That is until God woke me up at 4 AM with this verse clearly speaking to me. By the way, it wasn't even the 14th or the 15th. 

So let me start from the beginning. You see, this last Tuesday was a rough day in the McCullough house. I started my new job teaching a half-day at Ozen at 6:45 that morning.  I had a relatively good morning, but I was no longer accustomed to being up and dressed at that time, and I was even less used to working with teenagers for hours at a time. I came home exhausted.  Truth be told, in my world exhaustion usually leads to frustration and grumpiness, and that was exactly where I was living that afternoon. 

One thing led to another, and Matthew and I ended up in quite an argument.  It all started when he did something that I didn't agree with, but like most arguments, it turned into a blame game where no one was even talking about the original issue.  Luckily Matthew is a pretty good "arguer" who almost never allows things to get too riled up or voices to be raised much.  However, in our heated discussion, he said something that broke my heart.  With hurt in his eyes, he said that he feels like I tear him down when I get mad. Supper was on the stove, and we had company on the way, so we talked for a few more minutes and agreed that we would continue the discussion later after we had both calmed down.

Well, lest you think I am super-spiritual, you should know that Proverbs 14:1 never occurred to me during that argument. As a matter of fact, I went away from there sorry that my husband felt that way but still thinking that I was right in the whole situation.  Later that night we talked some more, and things were pretty well resolved.  We went to bed agreeing that everything was OK, and I knew that I needed sleep to be prepared for work the next morning.

Fast forward to 4:00.  Eyes wide open... A wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands. A wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.  A wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.  Oh wait, God, are you trying to tell me that I have been a foolish woman? Actually I'm not even sure if that's what that verse says.  I'll look it up when I get out of bed in a couple of hours. Eyes close, and I doze in and out of sleep until 6:15.

So I woke up, got dressed, headed to work and and pulled up my Proverbs of the Day on my computer.  As I sat down to read, that verse came right back to me.  I did a keyword search only to find that Proverbs 14:1 was almost word for word what I had heard so plainly that morning. Right there, I repented immediately.  First I prayed to God that he would change me and teach me how to be a builder rather than a destroyer.  Second I sent my  husband a text (he was still asleep, and the least I could do was to let him sleep) telling him that I was so sorry and I needed his forgiveness.

Long story short, God speaks! He doesn't always say exactly what we want to hear, but he always says exactly what we need to hear.  Thank God that I had inadvertently hidden that word in my heart, so that He could bring it to memory when I needed it.  Now I just have to search the Word and listen to my husband, so that I can find out exactly how a wise woman builds her house.