{"id":308,"date":"2011-06-26T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/2011\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-wishful-thinking\/"},"modified":"2011-06-26T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-26T12:00:00","slug":"what-does-the-bible-say-about-wishful-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/2011\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-wishful-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the Bible say about wishful thinking?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The king\u2019s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:1–3—NKJV)<\/cite> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is a given that there is only one reality. It must also be admitted that every single individual filters his observation of reality through his perceptions and personal values. This is why facts and truth must be accorded a higher priority and allegiance rather than opinions, feelings, dreams, and impressions. Your eternal salvation depends upon this distinction, let alone society\u2019s well-being. Wishful thinking can only doom both. <\/p>\n

A few observations about our text are in order. First, the first three verses of the chapter express the key thoughts of Solomon, and the rest of the verses of the chapter illustrate them. Second, each of the first three verses has found its way into common sayings. Verse one: Man proposes, God disposes. Verse two: Only God knows for sure. Verse three is contradicted and sadly perverted by the saying \u201cit is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission\u201d. <\/p>\n

Utilizing divinely granted wisdom, Solomon begins his review of mankind\u2019s wishful thinking from the top down. He begins with the heart of the king. At the outset of any administration, coronation, or regime, plans, goals, and priorities are put forth in flowery terms and in dreamy brilliance. Our text reminds us that kings are but flesh. God—the Immortal—holds the king\u2019s heart—the mortal—in His hands. Though the king, in heady days of adulation and splendor, proposes and defines his course, God forces the king in directions he does not chose. The word translated \u201criver\u201d can be better translated \u201cirrigation course.\u201d Just as farmers direct water\u2019s flow through ingenious dams and ditches utilizing gravity and pressure, so God forces the energy and resources of a king in directions beyond the king\u2019s control, fondest dreams, and hoped-for legacy. All the wishful thinking in the world does not alter the facts recorded as statistics in history. Facts are stubborn things. God defines the course of your life. It is therefore wise for the king (and by extension all of the rest of us mortals) to yield to the Creator rather than live in some sort of \u201calternative reality.\u201d <\/p>\n

Solomon next addresses another key component to reality. God is the final arbiter of every man\u2019s actions, not wistfully altered recounting, not good intentions, and not nuanced, parsed, or finessed sophistry of perceptions and mental gymnastics. God is the Record Keeper, the sole (soul) Judge, and final Authority on all matters. Though a man claims that his \u201cway is right\u201d (Hebrew: smooth and straight), God puts His divine yardstick to it. He weighs the heart. In case you miss the significance of God\u2019s words, Proverbss 16:2 states, \u201call the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.\u201d Proverbs 24:12 reads, \u201cIf you say, \u2018Surely we did not know this,\u2019 does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?\u201d 1s Samuels 16:7 records, \u201cFor the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u201d It is therefore wise to seek to understand and embrace God\u2019s verdicts on what you have done, and bring yourself into conformity to His righteous standards. <\/p>\n

Finally, Solomon turns man\u2019s \u201calternative morality\u201d of \u201casking forgiveness\u201d (after the fact) on its head. God demands that you do what He declares is right dealing and what He declares is just dealing. Sadly, man thinks \u201cmight makes right\u201d and that justice is found only in perceived equal outcomes (\u201cend justifies the means\u201d)—whether just-dealing is honored or not. Wishful utopian thinking that is divorced from factual reality invites cruel consequences. Someone once said that you can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the consequences. It is therefore wise to learn to think, placing a higher priority upon facts and truth, particularly those derived from God\u2019s Word, than all other considerations. Your eternity and man\u2019s society depend upon it. Trust and obey. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The king\u2019s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:1–3—NKJV) It is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hanoverbaptistchurch.org\/blogpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}