Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 08-17-2023

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the last day of the year will be 123123, so prepare.

A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding
Than a hundred blows into a fool.
Proverbs 17:10, NASB

The word translated here as ‘rebuke’ is גְּעָרָה  (gᵊʿārâ), which David uses twice in speaking of God revealing the foundations of the earth. That implies instruction, not just correction.

Are you working with a fool, or with someone with understanding? You can’t always tell by their work; not by their FIRST work, at least. 

You’ve hired twin 16-year-old girls to do some yard work: Understanding Uma, and Foolish Fatima. You tell Fatima to cut the grass in the front yard, and Uma to cut the grass in the back yard. 
This verse does NOT tell you which results, if any, will be pleasing. There are any number of reasons that Uma might do a substandard job: mower problems; insufficient instructions; a simple misunderstanding; a sprained ankle. Same thing applies to Fatima.
You don’t like either job. You speak to each girl, and issue new instructions.
Foolish Fatima tells you, at length, why she did it the way she did.
Understanding Uma says “Okay, I think I’ve got it now.”
Unless there is some fine-tuning, or you are spectacularly bad at giving instructions, you’re done with Uma, except for paying her.
But Fatima? Who knows? She’s still telling you about how she did it right the first time.

Nobody gets it right the first time without help; we ALL need instruction from time to time. That doesn’t mean we are stupid, or bad people!

Maybe Uma understands that, and Fatima doesn’t.  

Peace be on your household.