The Promise of Proverbs - Run to Your Strong Tower Episode #174

The Burt (Not Ernie) Show

In the latest episode of The Burt Not Ernie Show, host Jan Burt returns for another enlightening conversation on her series, Every Book a Promise. Delving deep into the book of Proverbs, Jan invites her audience to explore and believe in the power and specificity of God's promises and how these can lead to significant life changes.

Through three potent verses, Jan echoes the possibilities that arise when we live in our authentic identities and align our faith with God's purposes. With a firm belief in the Almighty, she uncovers the wisdom encapsulated within Proverbs and its power to impact our daily lives.

This episode serves as a challenge and a guide to living life with complete trust in God's promises, emphasizing the immense strength offered in His name, the prevailing of His purposes over our plans, and His ability to guide the hearts of those in authority. From discussing God's constant presence on the throne, to the importance of forgiveness, to the metaphor of God as a 'strong tower', Jan offers a wealth of biblical insights and comforting reassurances.

Tune in for a spiritually engaging discourse that will deepen your understanding of biblical wisdom and offer a refreshing guide to living a faith-filled life. Remember: God's promises are meant to be believed, and the path to life change is only one faith-step away.

Hey there, welcome to episode 174 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast.

We’re moving along in our series Every Book A Promise, working our way through the entire Bible to find, and believe, promises from God for us.

It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to just know about God’s promises, or even to be able to recite them from memory.

Life change happens when we believe them.

Remember when Jesus was amazed at the people’s lack of belief? And remember when He was astounded by a couple of people who had tremendous and complete faith?

Which category do we want to be part of? In which camp do we land? And do we need to make a move, change camps, head on over to the winning side?

So as we go through all 66 books of the Bible and learn about what God has promised to His people, let’s be sure we are believing these promises. Not just hearing about them, but believing them. Because they are meant to be believed. Our God wants us to trust Him utterly. Let’s go all in and believe God’s promises.

We are in the book of Proverbs for today’s episode.

And once again, it was not easy to choose just one promise to focus on. There is a wealth of wisdom in Proverbs, I think we all know that, but there are also a whole lot of promises. So I’ve got a few verses to share today, and just as a reminder once more, sort of like I am beating dead horse here but it’s important so I’ll say it again, these promises are for you, right now, today, so go ahead and believe them for yourself right now, today.

Proverbs 18:10 NLT - The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe.

19:21 - You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

21:1 - The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD: He guides it wherever He pleases.

So let’s talk about it!

Starting with the last verse I read, ch 21 vs 1. The king, the ruler, the leader, the one in authority - the heart of that person is like a stream of water directed by the Lord. Something about the leadership, rulers, authorities, big bosses, global tyrants concerning to you? Leadership on a small level or a huge one- you can take it all to the Lord in prayer and make your requests about that specific reign or rule to Him, and simply ask Him to do what it says here that He does…direct their heart like a waterway. Just do the guiding, Lord. Turn them from their evil and from doing what is just so wrong and make Your will to be what gets done. You can and should pray like that. And also, recognize that the second portion of the verse is true, too - that the Lord guides their hearts wherever He pleases. He is Sovereign, and He does love it when we pray and He delights to answer prayer, but that does not mean every single prayer gets the answer we want. He may be doing a much broader, deeper, greater work in an entire nation, state, a company or corporation, and a particular type of leader is who has to be in that position or role. And they may not be good guys, ya know what I mean? And yet, God is in charge, He is Sovereign and He is getting things done that He knows need to be done as per the true bigger picture. Other times, we don’t see anything changing in that person’s leadership because there has been no heart change and that could be because nobody is really praying for that particular person to have a God- led heart change.

But the promise still stands, it is still totally true. God turns the heart of the kind like a stream, like a waterway, directing it wherever He pleases. That should bring us comfort.

Chapter 19, verse 21 You and I can make plans, and don’t we do just that? We plan our vacations, we plan out our week, I mean I have a planner on my desk in front of me right now. We plan for celebrations, we make a plan to get some things done on the honey do list. We make plans. But it is so good to remember this promise, that the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

Where is the hope in this verse for us? Well, in the assurance that His will is what will prevail. And I need to know that my will isn’t going to prevail, because if I am honest I can admit that I mess things up and I don’t trust my will, just as I don’t trust my own heart. I don’t want to follow my heart, because the Bible says it is deceitful above all things, above all else, and that is the truth, not just for me but for all of us. So I need to have a promise like this, and so do you, so we can trust beyond our own plans and realize that God’s purposes will prevail. Remember when God says WILL in a promise in the Bible, He really does mean it. This verse from Proverbs is not an exception - God says clearly that He will actually bring about what He has purposed. So keep this in mind on your good days and the bad ones, because He is in charge, He is on the throne, and you can have total peace. His purposes will prevail. And all His ways are good, so we can trust His purposes.

The last verse I want to look at today comes from chapter 18. Verse 10 reminds us that He is a strong tower, His name is a strong tower. The godly run to it and are saved, our safety is there. Provided we are numbered among the godly. And we know that the blood of Jesus, His perfect life, sacrifice, and resurrection are what enable us to be counted among the godly. I am only godly because of Jesus. What a gift He has given us! It never wears out, we cannot exhaust it, the supply of His love and grace and mercy are endless, and we are able to claim verses like this one for ourselves, all because of Jesus. It should astound us, because it is truly astounding.

Do you need some protection? Are you feeling vulnerable? Run to the name of the Lord. It’s more than a worship song, it is truth! The name of the Lord is like a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are saved. Run to Him! But run in the name of Jesus, the Messiah, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the Lion of Judah. Worship Him, run to Him, believe that you are safe in Him. No matter what comes, if everything including the kitchen sink is being thrown at you, this promise will continue to prove true so long as we do as it says, and run to Him.

Jesus is the Name above all names, and our trust in Him, our hope in Him, our belief that His promises are true for us, is never in vain.

Which of His promises has God forgotten about? Nodded off on? Moved out of the driver’s seat? Abdicated?

None, that’s how many. And none of them, not even a single one, will ever not prove true.

I don’t know how we can ever astound Jesus with our faith, our belief, our trust, our lack of worry or fretting or fear, if we don’t go all in with believing the Bible’s promises.

Would you join me in growing your faith today, by choosing to believe the promises from Proverbs, even in the face of whatever adversity you may be facing? Let’s do this together, what do ya say?

Thanks for listening today, and I’ll see ya next time. Bye bye.