The Diaries of a Fruitcake in a Half Baked World!

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:7

The term fool in hebrew refers to a person characterized by moral folly.  Fools lack understanding (10:21), do not store up knowledge (10:14),  fail to attain wisdom (24:7), and refuse correction (15:5; 27:22).  They are arrogant (26:5), talk loosely (14:3) and are contentious (20:3). They might have mental intelligence but they are morally foolish.  In sum, they are stubborn and “thick-branined. (Greenstone, Proverbs, p.6)

We have all been fools at one time or another.  Definition for a fool is a person lacking judgment or prudence. There are many areas in your life where you can be a fool.

• Money
• Relationship
• Job
• children

But what about being a fool for love? Elvis sang the song, “I can’t help falling in love with you” and in this song he sings, “Wise men say, only fools rush in…” Do you become the fool by rushing into things because you lacked understanding or you didn’t have the knowledge before?

What causes us to be fools? Sometimes it can actually be immaturity or maybe mental instability. It can also be selfish desires that make us fools.  We can be headstrong, stubborn and being in that frame of mind will cause us to be deaf to the wisdom of a Pastor because…”They don’t understand how I feel.”

A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. Proverbs 19:2

Other translations besides the KJV say, “A fool hath no delight in understand…

• but delights in airing his own opinions. NIV
• they only want to air their own opinions. NLT
• but only in expressing his opinion. ESV
• But only in revealing his own mind. NAS
• But only that his heart may reveal itself. ASV

Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible says this about the with the KJV saying..But that his heart may discover itself:

It is a fact that most vain and foolish people are never satisfied in company, but in showing their own nonsense and emptiness.  But this verse may be understood as confirming the view already given of the preceding, and may be translated thus: “But a fool doth not delight in understanding, though it should even manifest itself.” so I understand. The separated person, that is the person who is in the truth and separate from the world,  seeks understanding in every hidden thing, and feels his toil well repaid when he finds it, even after the most painful and expensive search: the other regards it not, though its secret springs should be laid open to him without toil or expense.

Such men only desire to have some knowledge and understanding, to make a show of it, that they may be thought to be wise, and to be capable of talking of things as if they understood them, when it is only to the exposing of themselves and their ignorance; some persons attain to no more learning and knowledge than just to be capable to show that they are fools.  Or, “but in the discovery of his heart”, he delights in discovering that; not the wisdom, but the folly that is in it.

For me, I never want to be the fool.  I have often wondered over the past year if I was a fool for believing in something that I prayed over. Yes, I prayed EVERY DAY and I even journaled it. I wouldn’t make a move without knowing that it was time to make a move.  Even when a Pastor I spoke with told me if I didn’t do what he was saying I would experience hell like I never knew it.

During my separation there was an evangelist that came down from the pulpit and straight to me and laid hands on my head and prayed over my mind because he saw that Satan would be playing with my thoughts and I would feel like I was losing my mind in the future.  I couldn’t understand what he was talking about and thought it might be related to my divorce. My hell has been in the mind. Causing confusion and my discernment is clouded or maybe it isn’t and it is the cloudiness of others. I’m surprised I haven’t broken down into a major depression but as long as I pray and stay in the Word, depression will not root itself because the Lord will lift me from it. He is the Healer!

When it comes to understanding every hidden thing, that can be very aggravating to others who don’t have much patience.  I am the type of person who wants understanding. I no longer am the child in the classroom that wouldn’t raise their hand and ask the questions for fear of looking stupid. If the questions I ask make me look stupid, then that is the expense of finding the answer.  I might get a response of…ugh, you need to stop!…Why do you do that?…Are you serious? Or the worse thing…silence. BUT I am not afraid of those responses because it is SOOOO important that I get the answers. The only way I won’t get an answer and a peace in my soul is through the silence.

If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:21-27

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:31,32

So reading these scriptures is the answer to why you don’t need to use silence when you know it hurts the other. If you need time to think and don’t want to talk, say so and the other party should respect your wishes. The person waiting for you to break your silence will learn patience through prayer. Just remember we are to not let the sun go down while we are angry with another. Hence why I appear to wear my heart on my sleeve and want to talk and make things right by sharing my thoughts. Thoughts that can seem wordy…like this post.

In conclusion of the characteristics of a fool, know that a fool wouldn’t seek knowledge, wisdom and understanding. The appearance of looking stupid by asking questions is the judgment of a fool.  A fool would not try to understand others and only rely on their own thoughts as being right. They wouldn’t be considerate of others feelings and be like Ephesians 4:32 says, “…be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”