“Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house, do not raid his dwelling place;” – Proverbs 24:15
I am a righteous man. Not because I’m a good boy and sin less than the average guy (although I do), but because of what Jesus did for me on the Cross. His work transformed me and He has enabled me by His grace to walk free from sin, sickness and disease. I AM RIGHTEOUS! Saying that, one of the dumbest things you could do is like this Proverb says, “lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man’s house”. The word for “lie in wait” is; to lurk, to lie in ambush. It means to be in a state of watching and waiting for the home and household of the righteous to fall. Now who would do this?
I’ve actually had a couple people very close to me do this very thing. One of them, when I confronted him about being involved in an extramarital affair, began to tell me through a snarl how he wished that I would fall into adultery and have an affair, ruining my marriage, wrecking my family and destroying my ministry! I couldn’t believe the evil I was witnessing from this guy, a professing Christian, breathing out demonically inspired curses upon me and my household. I told him, “I have done NOTHING to deserve these curses you are spewing at me. These curses you are speaking won’t land on me, but they WILL come back and visit you! I would SHUT UP if I was you.”
“Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.” – Proverbs 26:2
He’s already ruined two marriages and last I heard not doing very well.
As a Pastor, I get to come in contact with a lot of people. Some love what we do at our church, others hate it. Either way, I’m ok; life in Christ is not a popularity contest to me. The way I see it, you just do what God has called you to do and those that are called to be a part will come along, the others will fall away. Occasionally people get REALLY upset because you don’t do things their way and make it the ambition of their life to “lie in wait like an outlaw” or even “raid his dwelling place”. They think they are God’s anointed to slander you to everyone they come in contact with. They prophesy people out of the church and pray that you close down! Hmmm, sounds a bit like the devil to me!
What they should watch out for is part two of this scripture:
“for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” – Proverbs 24:16
Yeah, we might go through difficulty, in fact we might go through a LOT of difficulty (seven times), but we’ll get back up. You and your devil proclamations though? Calamity is gonna wipe you out. BOOM!
LIFE LESSON:
Many who cannot live righteously slander and curse those who can. “Those who cannot DO, curse those who do!”
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