Proverbs 31:7 gentle manna

Proverbs 31:7  Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his trouble no more.

As a continuation of the Proverbs 31:6 page, this mother is again warning not only of the effects of alcoholism, but the underlying causes.  Proverbs 20 has something to say about drinking and about causes of poverty.

Proverbs 20:1  Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated (lit. errs) by it is not wise.

Proverbs 20:13  Do not love sleep, lest you become poor;  open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food (lit. bread).

In verse 1, we see wine personified as someone who scorns and yells at it’s captive.  So the first action point I see as a parent is to not yell at and scorn my children.

This type of parenting will leave a child vulnerable to all kinds of bondage as an adult.

And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger;  but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4

Verse 13 deals with laziness.  This verse also brings to my mind the gathering of manna.  Manna appeared when the layer of dew evaporated, but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.  So anyone who slept late, or stayed up late drinking and then slept late, would not eat that day. 

See Exodus 16:13-21.

The story of manna also brings up another issue that I think is related.  That issue is trust.  Moses instructed the people to gather in the morning what they needed for the day only, and not to leave any until morning.  In other words, they were not to hoard, but to gather morning by morning.  When they did keep it overnight it would rot.  It rotted not because it was so fragile.  The Lord instructed Moses to put some manna in a jar, placed before the Lord, to be kept throughout generations.  This manna did not rot.  It was their fear, disobedience, insecurity that caused the rottenness.  They had to trust that God was going to provide what they needed again the next day.  The extreme example of this is the homeless man who has a cart full of stuff that he cannot use. 

So as parents, we need to create a home environment that is safe, and cultivate their trust.  We do this through simple things such as faithfully feeding them at the proper time.  Then we teach them how great is His faithfulness, for morning by morning new mercies we’ll see.

ACTION POINTS

*use a gentle tone with my children and loving discipline

*be consistent in the ways of my household

*teach my children to trust God’s provision