The writing's on the wall

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” Proverbs 27:12

When someone says the writing's on the wall, they see unmistakable signs of danger looming in the near future. This comes from the book of Daniel 5 where during a huge feast thrown by King Belshazzar, a message began to be written on the wall by a human finger. The king had angered God because he allowed nobles to drink from the sacred golden goblets stolen from the temple in Jerusalem.

Daddy was a turkey farmer but he also had cows, grew tobacco, soybeans, and corn. I had a wonderful childhood because we had a hundred acre playground equipped with hay barns, a pond and even a creek to explore.

But as I got older, I started to realize the struggle was real for my parents to keep the farm. I could see the stress at the end of each month when the mortgage was due. Hail storms would damage the tobacco, droughts would dry up the crops, tractors or equipment would break down, meanwhile the bills just kept coming. My parents worked hard to keep it afloat but in the end the farm was sold.

It’s sad to see the inevitable happen when there’s nothing you can do about it. All we've worked for…...gone. Bad things happen that are out of our control but we can’t lose our faith. Instead we can stand on the infallible Word to comfort us. God promises to be with us and bring us out of the ashes when we grieve over a loss. Isaiah 61:2-3 says, “...to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion–to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,...”.

Sometimes trouble finds us while other times it’s because of the bad choices we’ve made. That’s the case of King Belshazzar, he let his arrogance and pride cloud his judgment when he no longer honored God. The writing on the wall warned, “God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.”-Daniel 5:26. Regardless of the trouble we find ourselves in, we can never lose hope because God will always be there for us when we call on Him.