Verse of the Day for August 23

Three verbs build this passage. A house is builded, then established, then its chambers be filled. Wisdom, understanding, knowledge, each with its own stage.

Building is exciting. People come to see the foundation and the walls going up. Filling is lovely too, the furniture, the photos, the guests. But established is the middle stage, and it is the least noticed. It means made firm. Set right. Strengthened so it will stand.

Most of life is spent in the middle. The marriage that is past the wedding and not yet at the anniversary photos. The business that is open but not yet steady. The faith that has started but has not yet been tested by a long trouble.

Proverbs says that middle work is done by understanding. Not by excitement, not by noise. By slowly learning how things really work and adjusting. And it is set against verse 2, people whose heart studieth destruction. They study too. They are just studying the wrong thing.

If you are in the middle of something today, the third year of a course, the tenth year of a ministry, the fourth month of a recovery, take heart. The unseen strengthening counts. Study the work in front of you with as much care as the wicked study harm.

The middle of the work is where the house learns to stand.

Ask what you need to understand, not just what you need to finish.