My dear readers,

Do Not Find Trouble

Proverbs 11:17: “The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.”

“No matter how hard we try to avoid trouble, it will find us one way or another!” This has been a common refrain among all peoples, especially pessimistic ones. The saying is quite true because we live in a very wicked and sin-sick world. It is a very troubled world, as warned by God in 2 Timothy 3:1-7: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. ²For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, ⁴Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; ⁵Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. ⁶For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ⁷Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Verses 5-7 describe professing Christians in the church in these last days, where their form of godliness is a façade to cover their carnality. They creep into houses and deceive gullible women who are weighed down by their sins and many types of lust. These so-called godly men will study the Bible a lot like seminary professors and Bible College teachers, but they will never come to the knowledge of the truth because they are not born again. They know the Bible but do not obey the Bible.

If trouble will surely find us in time, why do some people go out of their way to seek trouble? Who are these foolish ones?

Proverbs 11:17 warns of some who will not and others who will. Which one describes you best in the eyes of God?

The literal translation of Proverbs 11:17 is, “Doing good to his own soul is the merciful man: but the one who troubles his own flesh is cruel.”

• Avoiding Trouble – Sometimes we forget that when we do good to others, we are the ones who experience the greatest blessings and benefits and not the recipients. What Jesus says is very true: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is more than just the feeling that we have helped someone in need; it is a genuine sense of warmth that caresses the soul.
  
  Who can do good to their own souls? Only Christians can experience this, for only Christians are called “merciful” by God. The word “merciful” is also translated as “loving kindness” (26 times) and “kindness” in the KJV Bible. It is a Hebrew word with multiple nuances for which there is no English equivalent that captures its full essence. The word has the idea of mercy as the context of Proverbs 11:17 demands. It also has the idea of loyalty based on a covenantal relationship, in which it is the Christian’s duty to show mercy (151 times); not to do so is a sin. The merciful man experienced the mercies of God in his life when he received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour. He knows that before his salvation he deserved God’s wrathful judgment because of his idolatries and the innumerable sins he had committed against God, according to the Ten Commandments. He acknowledged before God that he deserved the judgment of hell if he were to die in his sin. But God did not judge and condemn him because Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, whom He sent to suffer and die on the cross for all his sins, forgave him the moment he received and accepted Jesus Christ as his Substitute, i.e. the One who was punished on his behalf. The mercies God bestowed on him were not free; God did not violate the divine justice that He gave to Adam in the Garden of Eden, which is that all who sin against God must surely die (cf. Gen 3:15-17). God’s mercy shown to him cost Jesus Christ His life when He suffered and died on the cross. Based on God's mercy, all believers are called merciful by God.
  
  Therefore, when the merciful ones show mercy to others by not demanding “a pound of flesh”, they do it for the sake of Jesus Christ. That is why the merciful ones described in Proverbs 11:17 cannot be unbelievers, even though unbelievers can show kindness and mercy but never for the sake of Christ. The ones who show mercy and do good to others do so as evidence of their salvation and not to earn salvation or to soothe their conscience to compensate for some wrong they might have done. It is good to know experientially that they are truly saved in Christ, because the good they do expects no reciprocal kindness, seeks no praise from man, and is not to inflate their depleted ego. They keep doing good by generously giving their substance, time and strength to help sinners experience God's love with the love of God they have received. Hopefully, with time, sinners might also experience God’s forgiveness in Christ for all the sins they have committed against God and they will not die in their sin and be cast into hell. Christians continue to do good to help their fellow believers, brothers and sisters in Christ, so that they can all be strong in the Lord and arrive home in glory as victorious Christians.
  
  Christians cannot and must not have any ulterior motive; otherwise, it will be a sin. Their conscience will plague and condemn them, and until they repent, peace will depart. Bitterness will remain in their soul, not peace. They hurt their own soul instead of doing good.

• Finding Trouble – However, the ones who do not do good to their own soul are not the merciful ones. They are the cruel God judges the cruelty they do through the Scriptures and not by man’s standard. The best example to demonstrate this is in Joshua 7:25: “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.” Joshua said these words to Achan. The context of this verse: Israel had successfully destroyed the city of Jericho. But a few days later they were soundly defeated by the inhabitants of Ai. Thirty-six Israelites died trying to capture Ai. Before the destruction of Jericho, God had warned all Israel to not take anything from the city of Jericho after its destruction because the city was under a curse by God, i.e. the entire city and everything in it belonged to God. Anyone who took anything from the city of Jericho would also be cursed, for it was equivalent to stealing from God. Achan disobeyed and stole from God. His family helped him bury the stolen items under their family tent. Thus, Achan and his whole family were stoned to death, and their dead bodies and all their belongings were burned.

  Achan troubled his own flesh because of his greed. He caused his family to sin, and they all perished because of it.

  Everyone who professes to be a believer links his manner of life to Christ. When he lies, he makes Christ a liar. When Achan troubled his flesh by succumbing to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life, he caused the whole nation of Israel to be in sin in the eyes of God. They attacked Ai, thinking they were right with God when they were not. Thirty-six sons and fathers lost their lives.

  We trouble our flesh when we sin. The only way out is to repent, for all of us still fall into sin. The ones who are merciful will repent. They know that is the only way they can restore the holy image of Christ they have marred by their sin. The ones who do not repent, God calls them cruel because they do not care that the holy Name of Christ they bear has been linked to their sin. Christ’s image, in the eyes of all those hurt by these cruel sinners, remains marred and they do not care. If unbelievers reject Christ because of these cruel ones, they will spend eternity in hell and ultimately in the Lake of Fire. Because of these cruel ones, believers will have their faith badly stumbled, their holy witness ruined and their faith in Christ weakened. The holy Name of Christ is at stake which is why the cruel ones will be cruel for eternity.

Do not find trouble. Make sure you are the merciful one described in Proverbs 11:17, and not the cruel one.