My reflections on Proverbs 10:3

My Step with God
1

Proverbs 10:3 says,

The LORD will not let the righteous go hungry,
but he denies the wicked what they crave.

There’s a potentially interesting connection to Matthew 5:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

And it often seems that the wicked get what they want while the righteous are on the sidelines.

But if God is in charge of all things and the one who crafted the universe according to his good purposes, then I need to look again.

Only those who are aligned with the grain of reality and the will of God can have lasting satisfaction.

Those who live a life opposed to God’s design and God’s kindness can never succeed.

Each day, we choose a life of faith in God - or self-reliance.

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2

I’m reading a short biography about Augustine of Hippo by Father Ben O’Rourke, an Augustinian priest with my daughter at the moment. Augustine experienced this very same hunger for something, but whilst he looked for satisfaction outside of God, he was left empty and unsatisfied.

Even though he was on the way to fulfilling his high ambitions, he was a troubled man. He had enjoyed the pleasures of youth. They had made him drunk with delight, but they had not satisfied his restless heart. He was craving for spiritual food. He had found wisdom in Cicero; he had, for a time, found companionship and a ready-made wisdom among the Manichees, and yet he was left disillusioned. All his honours and successes were not bringing happiness. ‘If good fortune smiled on me, I was too weary to lay hold of it; almost before I could get my hands on it, it was off in flight.’ (Confessions 6.6).

And later we see such a contrast in his life when he finds Jesus as his Lord and Saviour and writes the beautiful lines:

Late have I loved You,
Beauty ever old yet ever new!
Late have I loved You!
You were within me, but I was outside.
There I sought You, as I rushed about
among the beautiful things You had made.
You were with me,
but I was not with You.
The beautiful things of this world
kept me far from You.
You called, You cried.
You burst through my deafness.
You scattered my blindness.
I breathed Your fragrance
and now I pine for You.
I tasted You,
and I hunger and thirst for You.
You touched me,
and I burn with desire
for Your peace.

He hungered and thirsted for God, and God satisfied his deepest hunger when he sought righteousness in the right person.

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What beautiful insights you share. All of your words selected with great care.
You share truth that sets people free.
To be all that they can be. Thank you for your gift of knowledge. Wisdom for every age. The light revealed in darkness. God bless you, as you bless us!

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Alison, that was beautiful. For me, spending time with HIM makes me hunger and thirst for more. I so wanted to get to a place where I was in HIS presence all the time. I’m learning how to do that now. So thank you all for Uncommon Pursuit.

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