Welcome And Why Keep Listening

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All right, welcome back to another podcast on Proverbs. Today we're going to be going through Proverbs chapter 10, verse 24 through 25. And I think this is going to be one of the best ones yet. Now, before we get into it, just a little reminder that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, not heard, but hearing. So you just got to believe that if you listen to this and keep listening to it and keep listening to it, the Bible says that it will grow and will become fruit one day. And then when the fruit is ready, you grab it and then it's yours for life. And that's the goal here is to get you not just to understand it mentally, but to actually believe it and start to walk in it. So let's get going.

Proverbs 10:24-25 Read Aloud

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Today we'll be looking at Proverbs 10, 24 and 25. And I have to tell you, these two verses have grabbed hold of me in a way that I didn't expect. The more I meditate on them, the more I see Solomon is revealing something that runs through the entire Bible, not just a proverb and not just a wise saying, but a pattern, a way of living. A battle that every one of us faces every single day. And here's what the verse says What the wicked fears will come upon him, but the desires of the righteous will be granted. When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

Fear Versus Desire: Two Futures

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Now, at first glance these appeared to be two separate thoughts. One talks about fear and desire, the other talks about storms and foundations. But the more I studied them, the more I became convinced they're really talking about the same thing, and that same thing can be summed up in one question Whose voice are you listening to? Most people read verse twenty four and immediately think of wicked people as murderers, criminals, and the Adolf Hitlers of the world. That's how I used to read it. But then I noticed something. The proverb doesn't begin by talking about what the wicked does. It begins by talking about what the wicked fears. That caught my attention. Why fear? Why not murder? Why not like stealing or lying or cheating? Why fear? The longer I mused over it, the more I realized fear shows up in some of the most important stories in Scripture. And what Solomon is showing us is that fear is not merely an emotion, fear is a voice, and it competes with the voice of God. Notice a contrast. The wicked fears, the righteous desires. Both are looking toward the future. Both are imagining things that have not yet happened. Both are focused on the tomorrows. The difference is what fills your heart. One person spends his life asking, What if I lose everything? What if I fail? What if it doesn't work? What if disaster comes? And the other person asks, What is God saying? What has he put in my heart? Where is he leading me? What is possible trusting a faithful God? Both are imagining a future. One is driven by fear, the other is driven by faith. One expects loss, the other expects fulfillment. And Solomon says that what the wicked fears will come upon him, while the desires of the righteous will be granted. Now listen, I'm not saying that feeling fear makes someone wicked. The Bible is full of godly people who experience fear. David was afraid, Elijah was afraid, Gideon was afraid, the disciples were afraid. You know Peter was. Paul spoke about weaknesses and trembling. Fear itself isn't the issue. Look, here's the real question. What rules your life? Who gets the final vote? Who's sitting in the driver's seat? Fear may knock on the door, and fear may visit, and fear may shout. Fear may make its case. But does fear become your counselor? That's the question here. Does fear become the voice you trust? Because that's where things begin to change.

Adam: Fear Follows The Wrong Voice

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One of the things that struck me while studying this was a story of Adam. Think about what happened after Adam listened to the serpent. God had told him one thing, the serpent told him another. Adam chose the wrong voice. And what was the very first thing Adam experienced afterwards? Fear. Not death, fear. God had said, In the day you eat of it you shall surely die. Yet Adam's first words aren't you know, after they sinned weren't I'm dead, no, his first words were I was afraid. Fear showed up before the grave. Fear showed up before physical death. Excuse me. Fear showed up the moment Adam disconnected himself from God's voice. Before sin, Adam walked openly with God. After sin he hid. Before sin, Adam ran toward God. After sin he ran away from God. Fear changes the direction of your life. And isn't that exactly what fear still does today? Fear doesn't move us toward God, fear moves us away. Fear causes us to hide and causes us to withdraw. Fear causes us to protect ourselves. Now that's the big one. Protect you from what? Fear convinces us that hiding is wisdom, but often hiding becomes the very prison that keeps us trapped. That's why God says fear not so many times throughout Scripture. Because fear is always trying to separate us from what God is saying.

The Spies: Same Facts Different Voice

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Then my mind went to the story of the twelfth spies. God had already spoken. The land had already been promised. The outcome had already been declared. Twelve spies enter the land, ten return, with what Scripture calls an evil report. Think about that, an evil report. Those men weren't murderers, they weren't robbers, they weren't obviously wicked men. What they brought back was fear. The giants are too big, the cities are too strong. What can we do? We're like cross helpers. Joshua and Caliph saw the exact same giants. The exact same cities, the exact same walls, the exact same circumstances, yet they came to a completely different conclusion. Why? Because they trusted a different voice. And I think that's important because faith does not ignore reality, and faith doesn't pretend giants don't exist. Joshua and Caleb saw everything the other spies saw. The difference wasn't what they saw, the difference was what they concluded. The ten spies looked at the giants and concluded we are too small. Joshua and Caleb looked at the giants and concluded God is big enough. Same facts, different voice. Fear said, It can't be done. Faith said God will make a way. Fear said we'll never make it. Faith said we'll get through somehow. Fear says the obstacle is too large. Faith said God is bigger. The battle wasn't really about giants. The battle was about which voice they would trust. And that's a battle every one of us faces every day. I think one of the greatest questions of life is which report are you going to believe? The report of fear or the report of faith, i. e. hearing God. That reminds me of something from my own life.

Hurricane Story: Fear Creates Loss

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When I first got into the insurance business, I had a friend who started alongside me. We were both building independent agencies. We both had opportunities, and we both worked hard. But there was one major difference. His entire life revolved around the fear of a hurricane striking. Every conversation eventually came back to it. What if a hurricane comes? What if it wipes us out? What if we lose everything? Now remember, we were in the insurance business. My response was always so what? If a hurricane comes, people need us more than ever. Claims still need to be handled, customers still need guidance. Insurance companies still need to help. We simply go back to work. But he couldn't see that. The fear became bigger than the opportunity. Fear became his counselor, fear became his advisor, and fear became the voice he trusted the most. Eventually he sold his agency and left. He spent years running from something that never happened. And that's what struck me when I read Proverbs ten twenty four. Fear produces the very future we are trying to avoid. The fear of loss creates loss. The fear of failure creates failure, and the fear of rejection creates isolation. Fear becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. That's one of fear's greatest ironies. It promises protection, but often produces paralysis. It promises safety, but often produces stagnation, and it promises certainty, but often keeps us from entering what God has prepared. That's why Proverbs fascinates me, and how it defines a wicked person. The wicked are often not simply people committing terrible acts. The wicked are people who have disconnected themselves from God's wisdom. They trust another voice, the voice of fear. The righteous aren't perfect people. The righteous are people who trust God enough to keep moving forward, not because they have no fear, but because fear is no longer sitting in the driver's seat. Faith is.

Talents Parable: Fear Buries Fruit

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Now this brings me to the parable of the talents. I think this may be one of the strongest connections in all the scripture. Remember the servant that received one talent? That servant tells the master I was afraid. Notice that, not angry, not rebellious, not hateful, afraid. I was afraid and I hid your talent. Then comes one of the strongest statements Jesus makes. He says you wicked and lazy servant. Now that's worth sitting with. The servant wasn't stealing, he wasn't committing adultery, he wasn't getting drunk. His explanation was simply I was afraid. Fear caused him to bury what had been entrusted to him. Fear caused an action. The fear prevented fruitfulness, and fear kept him from moving forward. The wickedness wasn't merely the emotion. The wickedness was allowing fear to overrule trust. Fear became his master, fear shaped his decision, and fear determined his future. And I wonder how many talents are buried today, not gold coins, but dreams and businesses, ministry, books, ideas, relationships, callings? How many books are sitting inside people right now because fear buried them? How many businesses never started because fear buried them? How many ministries never launched because fear buried it? And how many opportunities were missed because fear buried them? How many people felt God nudging them towards something, but fear started talking? What if I fell? What if people laugh at me? What if I lose money? What if it doesn't work? And before long the dream gets buried, not because God changed his mind, but because fear became the loudest voice in the room. You know, fear hit me immediately when the Lord asked me to do this podcast. Fear said straight away, What do you know about a podcast? Fear said to me, You can't teach Proverbs. Solomon was the richest man, and you are not, so you aren't wise enough to teach on such a subject. And those fear words are true, and I believe but I believed more in the voice of God than the reason of fear. So like I do after fighting back and forth with fear, I say to myself, I don't care. I'm going with God no matter what the outcome. Look, the graveyard is full of dreams fear talk people out of, and I think that's exactly what Jesus is warning us about. Fear buries fruit. Faith multiplies it. And that brings me to something

Aspen Desire: Faith Without Forcing

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personal. Several years ago, I felt the Lord place Aspen, Colorado in my heart, and the desire has never left. At first I thought it would happen quickly. I thought maybe God would open a door immediately. Instead years have passed. What's interesting is desire remains. The details change, the timing change, and my understandings changed. But the desire remains. In fact, when I bought my current home, I remember telling the Lord that I needed the money for aspen, and it was almost eff it is almost as he asked me, why can't you have both? I had unknowingly put limitations on God. I was seeking either this or that. God was thinking much bigger than I was, so I bought the house. And then I spent two and a half years remodeling it, making it beautiful, making it peaceful, making it like a garden of Eden. Yet even while doing that, the desire for aspen remained. Not because I needed a bigger house, and not because I wanted status, not because I wanted to tell people I live in aspen. The desire remained because I'm literally excited to see what I believed I heard from God actually comes to pass. And that's where this proverb became real to me. There is a difference between forcing something and watching for it. I occasionally, you know, try to make aspen happen. I sometimes obviously look at mountain properties, but I'm not chasing every opportunity that appears. In fact, there have been cabins and properties that seem logical. Financially they made sense. Emotionally they were tempting, but deep inside there would be a restraint, not a dramatic prophecy and not a booming voice, just a quiet sense, no, that is not what I told you. So I'd step back. And then I'd return to what God had placed in front of me, my family, my business, my employees, this podcast, and my daily responsibilities. Yet my feelers remain out. I'm paying attention, I'm listening and I'm watching. And that's what faith looks like. David was tending sheep, but his feelers were out. Joseph was managing a prison, but his feelers were out. Moses was tending sheep in Midian, but his feelers were out. Abraham was waiting decades, but his feelers were out. They weren't obsessing over the promise every minute. They were faithfully doing today's work while remaining attentive to tomorrow's opportunities. Faith is not passive, and faith is not forcing. Faith is staying or is saying simply Today's assignment I will do, and remain attentive to tomorrow's promise.

Whirlwinds Come For Everyone

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Now Solomon takes us into verse twenty five. When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation. I love this verse because it reminds us of something we often forget. The whirlwind comes to everyone. Nobody gets a free pass. Storms come to believers and storms come to unbelievers. The difference is not whether the storm comes, the difference is what you're standing on when it arrives. I remember when I bought our home. I thought I had arrived, beautiful property, beautiful view, unlimited potential, and then the world went and came. Mold, contractors, delays, unexpected expenses, stress, sleepless nights. For two and a half years it felt like one challenge after another. People

Remodeling Storm: Foundation Revealed

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would literally tell me, sell it, move on, get rid of that place. But underneath all the frustration was something stronger. I believe God has spoken. I felt he had told me this is your home. Make it like a garden of Eden. Now here's the interesting part. God gave me the destination, but he never gave me the map. He didn't tell me about the mold. He didn't tell me about the slight contractors. He didn't tell me about the delays, and he didn't tell me about the expensive. He simply he simply gave me a word. And friends, that's how life works. God gives us direction, but he doesn't explain the route. He gives us a promise, but he doesn't always explain the process. That's where faith comes in. Faith is continuing to walk when you don't understand the path. Faith is holding on to his word when circumstances are screaming something different. Looking back now, if someone had told me, Hey Ed, in two and a half years, your wife is going to absolutely love this home. She's going to find peace here. She's going to wake up thankful every day, and her joy is going to become your joy. If I knew that, I would have gladly endured every bit of the journey. The reward wasn't really the house. The reward was what happened inside us while getting there. The whirlwind taught me patience, it taught me perseverance, and it taught me trust. It taught me that God's word is more dependable than my emotions. And that's what exactly storms do. They reveal the foundations. When everything is calm,

Fear Not: Choosing God’s Voice Daily

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everything looks great, but when the whirlwind comes, that's when you discover what your life is really built on. Maybe that's God's way of saying fear not so many times throughout Scripture. He said it to Abraham, to Joshua, Gideon, Mary, Joseph, the disciples, over and over again. Fear not, fear not, fear not. Why? Because fear is humanity's default setting. The moment uncertainty appears, fear starts talking. The moment we don't know how things will work out, fear voluntarily becomes our counselor and says, What if you lose everything? God says I will never leave you nor forsake you. Fear says, What if you're not enough? God says my grace is sufficient. Fear says, What if nobody helps you? God says I am with you. Fear says, What if this ends badly? God says trust me. The entire Christian life is learning which voice deserves your trust. And that's where I think Proverbs ten, twenty four and twenty five come together. Fear is not merely an emotion. Fear is a rival voice. The serpent spoke one voice, and God spoke another. Adam chose the wrong voice. The ten spies chose the wrong voice. And wisdom, what we've been studying throughout Proverbs, is learning which voice deserves your trust. Now I'm not saying every fearful feeling is wicked, but I do know scripture makes a powerful case that when fear becomes our guide instead of God, it begins producing the very fruits associated with wickedness, hiding, retreating, shrinking back, burying, protecting, refusing to move forward. Fear shrinks dreams, fear buries talents. Fear will keep you out of your promised lands. Fear talks you out of becoming who God created you to be. Fear continually magnifies the giants and minimizes God. That's why I believe God opposes fear so strongly. Not because he's angry at fearful people, but because he sees what fear does to them. He sees the life it stills. He sees the opportunities it buries, he sees the promises it talks people out of. And maybe that's the deepest lesson of these two verses. The wicked aren't merely just the people who commit terrible acts. The wicked are people who continually trust the wrong voice. The righteous are not perfect people. The righteous are people who trust God's voice enough to keep moving. They may hear fear and they may feel fear, but fear is no longer their master, faith is. And when the world wouldn't comes, then it will come. The storm reveals who you've been listening to all along. Because eventually the voice you trust becomes the path you walk.

Closing Question And Book Mention

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So maybe the question Solomon leaves us with this today is whose voice is guiding your life today? Fears or God's? Because what the wicked fears will come upon him. But the desires of the righteous will be granted. And when the whirlwind finally passes, God's word will still be standing, and so will those who built their lives upon it. Isn't that a good word? Well, thank you again for listening to this podcast on Proverbs by Edward L. Carpenter. And again, if you're having difficulty hearing God speak to you, pick up my book on Amazon, God Why Won't You Talk To Me by Edward L. Carpenter. Other than that, until next week, you all be blessed. Bye bye.