Proverbs 26:3 (NLT)
“Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back!”

Stop Wasting Your Pearls

Are you tired? Are you physically and spiritually drained because you’ve been trying to “reason” with a fool? We waste a significant amount of energy trying to convince people who lack good judgment to simply do what is right. You will literally wear yourself out. At the end of all your sweat and tears, after you’ve exhausted your best efforts to lead them to a better choice, you have to ask the hard question: “Who is really being the fool here?”
We often make exceptional efforts to help people who have absolutely no desire to be changed. Jesus warned us in Matthew 7:6: “Don’t give what is holy to unholy people. Don’t give pearls to swine!” They won’t thank you for the treasure; they will trample it and then turn and attack you. You cannot “out-God God.” Some people have to fall into the hole they dug, and no amount of your money, your words, or your worry will change that divine consequence.

The Practice:

From Rescue to Response

A horse responds to a whip and a donkey to a bridle, but a person who denies sound judgment requires a “rod”—an external force of consequence—to move them. To avoid being the one under the rod, we must:
1. Perform the “Mirror Check”
Before you judge the “fool” in your life, ask: Where am I being the fool? Where are you stubbornly refusing to submit to God’s plan? Check your “Obedience Vitally Signs”: Are you praying? Are you studying the Word daily? Are you tithing? If you are angry at God because He didn’t do things your way, you are standing in a place of foolish defiance. Go to James 5:13-16 and get that fixed today.
2. Know When to “Fold ‘Em”
You must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when dealing with people. Like the old song says: you have to know when to hold, when to fold, and when to run. Not every person is your assignment for every season. If they refuse to heed the Truth, your continued “help” might actually be hindering the lesson God is trying to teach them through the “rod.”
3. Compliance Over Comprehension
Your “understanding” is not a prerequisite for your “obedience.” Many of the deepest truths of God are only understood after you yield and obey. Don’t be the person who requires a “rod to the back” to finally move in the right direction. If God said it, do it—even if you don’t “get it” yet.

Today’s Declaration:

“I am taking my ‘pearls’ back from the ‘swine.’ I refuse to exhaust my life trying to change people who don’t want to be changed. I am turning my focus inward, surrendering my own stubbornness to the Father. I choose the bridle of His Spirit over the rod of His consequence. I will obey first and understand later!”

God can’t steer a heart that is anchored in its own foolishness. Today is a great day to make a Fresh Start!
God bless,
+Pastor Kris