Rise Again

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

RISE AGAIN

Prov 24:15-16

15 Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house, do not raid his dwelling place; 16 for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

NIV

There seems to be a warning here to the unrighteous, but what unrighteous person would first, read this warning, and second, pay any attention to it? What this proverb teaches us is about how we face calamities in comparison to how the unrighteous face those same calamities. There is something about this number seven which brings Job to our mind.

Job 5:19

19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you.

NIV

We also should note this falling seven times is not falling into sin as the Hebrew word used here for fall has nothing to do with sin, it is not used at all in the Old Testament in connection to sin, but rather to fall, to fall down, to lay prostrate on the ground. This implies what the saying here teaches. There are going to be times when we fall into troubled times, or experience some calamity in our lives. This is what Job was experiencing. He had everything. He had a good life, a big home, lots of children, great wealth by all standards he was among the one percenters of the world. We know the story and how he lost everything, except his wife, although she was not very supportive of his continual trust in God, in fact she suggested he curse God. But Job says that God will rescue us from six calamities, even in seven no harm will befall us. This seven is an uncertain number, which it means forever, unnumbered amounts. This is the idea about forgiving sins, seven time seventy, always, unnumbered times. Whenever we fall into some sort of calamity, God will always rescue us. We always have our trust in the Lord, we do not give up just because we fall into some hard times or experience some difficulty. Those who do not know the Lord, those who cannot trust God, do not see the other side of a calamity, they are stuck in their troubles. Many times such calamities can bring a person down to depression; with no hope, not way of seeing a way out of their troubles. We do not ever see that side of a calamity for we always have the Lord who will rescue us. We may not be able to get up on our own, but God will lift us up and bring us through any situation in life. What can man to do us? Nothing for we are in the hand of the Lord, he is our refuge, he is our rock, he is our fortress, he is our strength in times of trouble. Where else would we go? Who else could we trust more them him? When we look  back at those times in life we went through a storm and see only but one set of footprints, they were his, carrying us through that storm. Yes, even when we walk through the valley of death, he is there to carry us home. We shall always rise again, both in times of calamity, and in the end times.