A Swift, Sharp Affliction

“As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.” - Proverbs 26.2

How many kinds of birds have you seen lately?  Can we think of times in the Bible when birds are mentioned?

Have we ever thought about how birds wander from place to place all day long?  And sometimes we see birds flying and we never really know “where in the world” they land!  What is interesting is this: Birds never just come and land on us!

Birds flit and fly here and there all day long but they only come to us... if there is a reason.  Maybe we have bread, or maybe they think we are a threat to their nest!

This verse is saying the same thing about a curse, which has to do with “a swift, sharp affliction”.  Curses don’t come without a reason.  They don’t come without a cause.  If they come God gives ways to deal with them:

• The Curse of Sin is Dealt with by Grace.  Romans 5.17, Galatians 3.10-14, Ephesians 2.8-9, Romans 5.1
• The Curse of Selfishness is Dealt with by Gratitude.  2 Timothy 3.1-2, Proverbs 30.11, Colossians 3.15
• The Curse of Stagnation is Dealt with by Growth.  2 Peter 3.18, Acts 2.41-47, Ephesians 3.20-21, Hebrews 2.12

Do we have “a swift, sharp affliction” in your life?  You may need to be saved by Grace.  Are we trying to do everything our own way and having a continual “swift, sharp affliction”?  It’s time to have Gratitude.  Are we “stuck in the mud’ about to get bogged by “a swift, sharp affliction”?  Then it’s time to get on with it and Grow in grace, in love, in our knowledge of Christ in the place He blesses, it the place that brings Him glory – the local New Testament Church!

Run with patience,
Pastor