Proverbs 16:20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

What jumped out at me from this, comparing the English and the Japanese, is that where the NIV says “instruction,” the Japanese says, “the Word.” We need and receive instruction of many sorts in many ways, but God is the only absolutely true source. Just a cursory look at the US educational system today will show you that not all instruction is good and valid. In too many cases the line between instruction and indoctrination is being crossed, often deliberately. Those who are under that regime end up sometimes in horrible shape, scarred for life in more ways than one. At one point the Bible was the foundation of the US educational system, but some people have been systematically working to root that out over the past 100 years or so, and we are seeing the consequences all around us. To go back to this verse, where the NIV says “prospers,” the Japanese says “discovers blessings.” There are all kinds of prosperity! As is mentioned frequently throughout Proverbs, there are things far more valuable than material wealth. When we fill our hearts with the Word of God (which is the sense of the Japanese expression) we discover blessings that can be had no other way. That was the state of the writer of Psalm 119, and it is blessed indeed. However, we’ve got to trust God, and not just give Him lip service. As the expression goes, it’s “when push comes to shove” that we discover how much we are really trusting God, and not just relying on ourselves, or anything else less than God.

I’m in a situation of urgently needing instruction in a computer matter, and I don’t know how to get it. However, letting it slide has produced multiplied issues of other sorts, and I really feel boxed in. This isn’t something I can find out directly from reading the Bible! Once the issue is solved, it will quickly fade into nothing, but in the meantime it is eating into our life and our relationship. Ultimately, all problems are human! I’ve got to be quiet enough before the Lord to hear His instructions as to how to get the information I need, because it is that lack of information that has me stymied. Part of me is caught up in this issue and part of me recognizes that it makes no difference on the eternal scale, but I’m still faced with the interpersonal factors that do make a real difference, so there you have it. I am totally dependent on God, but that’s an absolute truth anyway, so I need to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him.

Father, this is a hard thing to thank You for, but I choose to do so. Thank You for showing me yet again my own insufficiency so that I may open myself up to Your all-sufficiency, for the blessing of those around me and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!