I am taking a quick break from Acts and doing a reading of Proverbs 11. I take these breaks from time to time just to avoid burnout on a longer reading like Acts will be. I also love reading Proverbs, so it gives me an opportunity to do that.
At any rate, in reading this Proverb this morning, what really stands out to me is Proverbs 11:27, which reads:
“Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it.”
This entire chapter is one of the favorites for me in Proverbs, and there are several recurring themes in this one including humility, controlling our tongue, and the futility of desiring/pursuing riches. But for whatever reason, this verse stuck out to me this morning.
It seems to be saying, in a way, that we’ll find what we are looking for. It also subtly suggests that seeking good requires a little bit of effort, and diligence, whereas evil tends to find us if we are simply open to finding it. In my life, I find that to be true for sure - good requires discipline, self-control, and work. Evil seems to come naturally, and easily. Evil almost comes as a default.
About 10 years ago I heard of a principle called “hard/easy”. This principle really is a fantastic principle, and it goes like this. In life, we are constantly faced with decisions that have what seems to be the hard choice, and what feels like the easy choice. Often times, the hard choice is known to be the better choice, but it is...hard. And, it is hard despite the fact that we are fairly certain that it is the right choice. So, this hard/easy principle says that when we make the hard choice now, things actually get easier in the future. But, when we make the easy choice now, things get harder in the future. In other words, we don’t have the choice to never deal with the hard part...it is either hard now or hard later. For instance, forgiving someone who’s offended you is the hard choice right now. It requires humility. It requires patience. It requires effort on our part. Holding a grudge is much easier right now. But, 10 years from now, when that relationship is missed, when we don’t have that friend, when we find ourselves alone, it will be hard. We have a choice - do the hard thing right now and go to that person and offer forgiveness and experience the enjoyment of the relationship going forward (the easy part), or let ourselves off the hook now, hold the grudge, and suffer the hard consequences later.
Life is full of these situations - this principle is genius. And, it is one of those things that simple having some language around it often makes it incredibly easy to spot this choice during your life...it certainly has for me.
So, this morning I am reminded by Solomon’s wisdom of this hard/easy principle...for today, I will choose to do the hard thing now to enjoy the easy thing later. Great reminder!