Many of the sayings collected in the Book of Proverbs were probably written in the early part of Solomon’s life. This was almost three thousand years ago. What is amazing is that most of these proverbs are as valid today as they were when they were originally spoken. God’s wisdom transcends time, geography, or culture.

Today’s verse is a great example of that. In fact, if more people followed the advice of this verse, we might not be in the financial crisis that we are facing today (2009). In this proverb we are instructed to develop our business before building our house. The concept is simple; make sure you can pay for your house before you buy it. We live in a period when people are losing their homes at an unprecedented rate.

This was not an unexpected result. Many watching the housing market could see this coming. People were encouraged to buy a home well before they were able to pay for it. Companies promised a future of never-ending real estate appreciation. They promised a future they had no control over. And with the greedy competitive nature of many businesses, they aggressively sought ways to motivate people to buy things they couldn’t afford.

Our proverb for the day tells us to take care of business first, and then build your house. There are two reasons why this doesn’t work for a lot of people. First, people are impatient. We live in a culture that wants you to believe you don’t have to wait for God’s timing to get God’s blessings. You can have it now and you can have it the way you want it, for a small fee, of course. God has a plan to bless His people in ways they can’t even imagine, but they will come when He chooses to provide them.

The second reason people struggle with this is found in a definition. Most people define a house as a home. They would go so far as to say that until they have a house, they don’t really have a home. It has been said, “Home is where your heart is.” That is where the problem lies; people put their heart where they want happiness. If they believe the only place they can be happy is in a house or a bigger house, then their heart is somewhere other than where they are. When we allow our heart to settle outside of where we are, we will be discontent until we are where our heart is. If we cannot be happy and content with what we have, God is not likely to give us a lot more than we have.

God’s wisdom works for everyone and covers every situation in life. If we will just let Him speak to us, we would avoid so much pain and suffering in our lives; not all of it, but a lot of it. Take care of business. That means you do what God has set before you to do before you concern yourself with taking care of your ‘creature comforts’. Seek God and He will let you know when it is time for you to be blessed with more than you have. Be patient and wait on the Lord. He is so faithful; He will never fail to bless those who love Him and seek Him. Jesus, help us to stay busy and wait for Your blessings.

Read: Jeremiah 8:8-9:26; Colossians 3:1-17; Psalm 78:32-55; Proverbs 24:27