Day 308

Ezekiel 10:1–11:25; Hebrews 6:1-20; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 27:1-2

HAVE YOU EVER been around a person who always finds a way to turn any conversation into something about themselves? For example, you’re talking about your children, and before you can finish your story, they’ve already launched into a better one about their own kids, with the expectation that you will marvel? Or if they initiate a conversation, it’s often about how they are “killing it” at life, as if they need to be praised?

The words of wisdom found in our reading from Proverbs today spoke to this: “Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring. Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth —a stranger, not your own lips” (Proverbs 27:1-2).

What’s fascinating about this behavior is that it doesn’t work for very long. It eventually becomes repellent. Ongoing self-promotion simply doesn’t hold up. Beneath it is a person who needs to be seen —but they only feel seen when they are validated. What this person really needs is someone to trust, so that they really can be seen. But the bragging gets in the way, and no one sticks around long enough to get below the surface.

If you have a person like this in your life, then perhaps this proverb gives perspective. If this is you, then the Scriptures are inviting some fairly significant reflection. And let’s face it —we may not exhibit the extremes we’ve been discussing, but in varying degrees, this is true of all of us.

We’re looking for validation in the wrong places. If we don’t feel validated by God, we’ll chase imposters. What we really need is someone we can trust. And, as cliché as this sounds, we need to trust God. We’re going to have to take the leap of faith that our almighty Father really does see us. Because, as the proverb says, we do not know what the day will bring.

Our reading from Hebrews today encapsulates the promise of what our full and devoted trust in God will bring. We’ll close with these verses, because they describe ultimately what we are looking for:

We who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

MEDITATION:

I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.