Leah sat at the kitchen table long after the house grew quiet. Her Bible lay open, a mug of tea gone cold beside it. She had underlined Proverbs 22:6 years ago: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The verse had carried her through countless nights of parenting, but now her son had walked away from the faith, and the words felt heavy. She whispered to herself, almost accusingly, “But I did what it said.”
She closed her eyes, remembering the bedtime prayers, the church services, the patient conversations. And yet, here she was, staring at a verse that felt more like a wound than a comfort.
This is where we misunderstand Proverbs. They are not contracts with God. They are not promises that guarantee specific outcomes if we simply follow the instructions.
Instead, they are wisdom principles—truths about how life usually works when we live in line with God’s design.
Proverbs shows us the general patterns of life.
Hard work usually leads to provision.
Humility often opens doors.
Fools tend to fall into their own traps.
But “usually” is not the same as “always.”
Life is too complex, and God is too sovereign, to be reduced to formulas.
That is why the Bible includes not only Proverbs, but also Job and Ecclesiastes.
These books remind us that the world is both ordered and broken, both patterned and unpredictable.
Wisdom does not erase mystery. It teaches us to live faithfully in the tension of both.
I think about how often we read Proverbs like life hacks. Quick solutions. Do this and you will get that. I have done it myself. But that approach leaves us unprepared when life doesn’t follow the “plan”.
Proverbs is not trying to give us shortcuts.
It encourages us into a way of living that leans into God’s order, even when the results are slower or look different than we hoped.
This week, choose one proverb you know well and reflect on it, not as a formula, but as an orientation.
Ask: “How can I align with the wisdom of this truth today, without demanding a guaranteed outcome?”
—Nils