The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness (Proverbs 10:31-32)
Frowardness: of a person, difficult to deal with, contrary
As I was growing up, I recall my mother using the term spirit of contradiction.
Contrarian: a person who opposes or rejects popular opinion or current practice
I see the froward as contrary, dealing with the truth as though it were a wiggly unwieldy entity. I see contrarians opposing and rejecting the pushed upon us opinions and current practices that have become popular. I guess I have the spirit of contradiction when it comes to the ways of the world, but this is not exactly what my mother was referencing; more on this further on down the page. I am opposed to the ways of the froward, and the wagging of their tongues when they speak wickedly: I contradict and combat their slick style of fabrication, challenging what they say, and the messages they broadcast far and wide.
Lately, I have been longing for the company of those that love the truth more than life itself. I know there are many out there, but I have met very few. This is confusing for me. When I read the Psalms or Proverbs, I get confirmation of what it looks like to be a wicked man or woman, and confirmation what a righteous person sounds and acts like. The clarity and distinctions are so crisp that it makes me weep, because it affirms what I believe about what is evident in the world, and more importantly, what is possible for each human that chooses to live for God and His glory.
This verse stood out to me this morning as painfully true:
As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him (Proverbs 10:26)
Too much vinegar makes a meal difficult to eat, and smoke in the eyes burns like the fire from which it issues. The sluggard, the one that ought to do the work he is sent to complete, is useless, an utter waste of time, and this is what we are seeing. Time, money, talent, energy, enthusiasm, zeal, used up as though they were unlimited and valueless. The devil kindled a fire with the froward, and the smoke billows and burns not only the eyes, but the sinew and soul as we get closer to the flame, or more accurately, as we feel the heat travelling in our direction.
As the world turns, I see everyone living as though nothing has changed, nothing has gone awry, everything is as it was and should be. But it isn't, and the contrarians know it. The contrarians are like white on rice. They cannot stop speaking about what they see, and warning others that the easy life is gone gone gone, never to return.
As the death toll rises from "vaccidents", a new term coined to encapsulate the injuries and deaths from reactions people are having while driving or flying a plane, the contrarians are alarmed and sensing that we are on the cusp of more of the same as catastrophe becomes common place. The true spirit of contradiction, the one that my mother hinted at, that belongs to the froward, is anti christ, and he is pushing and pulling humans every which way, seemingly without their knowledge, and strangely, with their consent.
Those that have thus far dodged the damage from taking into their bodies that which the LORD of hosts forbids, have been treated mercifully. God has granted many a reprieve and some, one day, will thank Him for the unmerited favour and grace He generously bestows. He is kind, and forgiving, even of the froward when they repent: and haven't we all, at one point in time or another, been difficult when God wanted us to be obedient for our own good?
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