Finding Wisdom in ProverbsНамуна

Boasting

The Loud Sound of an Empty Mind

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Proverbs 27:1

Life is uncertain. No one knows what tomorrow will bring.

Think of what you would know if you knew the future. You could profitably invest in the stock market. You could pass every test because you would know the questions in advance. You would never be surprised by a sudden snowstorm or an unexpected visitor. Every business plan would succeed because you could perfectly plan for every contingency. Nervous suitors would only pop the question once they knew in advance the answer would be yes.

There are at least three reasons it is good that you don’t know your future. First, even if you knew the future, you wouldn’t be able to understand it. So many factors play into what will happen six months from now that we can’t comprehend them all.

Most of us want simple answers: “Will the stock market go up or down?” “Should I take that new job?” “If I ask Jill to marry me, will she say yes?”

God says, “I can’t really answer it that way. I have to show you the big picture.” But if He showed us the big picture, we wouldn’t understand it.

Second, if you knew the future, it would make you either lazy or arrogant. Someone has said luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Indeed, hard work doesn’t guarantee success. But hard work creates a climate in which success is more likely to occur. One reason we work hard is precisely because we don’t know the future. If you knew how the stock market would do next year, you might take it easy. Why work hard when you already know what tomorrow will bring? That same knowledge might tend to make you arrogant because you would be privy to inside information. Either way — whether lazy or arrogant — your boasting would make you unattractive to other people.

Third, knowing your personal future would eventually lead to despair. Suppose someone handed you a manila envelope and told you it contained a detailed account of your next ten years. Would you open it? The temptation would be almost irresistible. But suppose the envelope contained news of a future tragedy you could not avoid. Knowing the future would then be a curse, not a blessing. We think we want to know the future, but really, we don’t. It’s better not to know, for then we’re forced to take life as it comes — moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day.

Boasting is foolish because it makes us think we control the future when we don’t even control the present. At its heart, boasting is a subtle form of idolatry in which we attempt to push God off the throne.

If you want to boast, boast that you know the Lord. That’s the only thing that matters. Leave the future in God’s hands. He can handle it just fine by Himself.

Lord, when I am tempted to boast about my plans, please remind me that You can run the universe without any help from me. Amen.

1. Suppose you were allowed to discover the next ten years of your life in advance. Would you take that opportunity? Why or why not?

2. If you could know just one fact about your own personal future, what would it be? How would knowing that fact change the way you live today?

3. What is the difference between making wise plans and boasting about the future?