Covered In Scarlet

The other day I was looking through old journals. I was trying to locate a meaningful verse. (AND I was avoiding a hot date with the vacuum.) I never found the exact verse but I did find entries that pertained to worry.

It didn’t take long to realize those particular worries still had a hold on me. Worries that in recent days God had been whispering “Just. Say. No.”

Imagine my frustration when I realized my recent worries weren’t recent at all.

Fortunately, I also ran across an entry that pertained to Proverbs 31 and Easter, AND worry.  It went something like this…

Proverbs 31 is not a chapter normally equated with Easter but that’s one of the many things I love about God’s word…at any given reading or hearing, something new  can speak.

Proverbs and I go way back. She’s like an old road home. My brain is in neutral, without even realizing it, I turn left. I’m headed down the familiar path that leads straight to what (and who) I love.

The same could be said of my travels through Proverbs. But until recently, verse twenty-one from chapter thirty-one was more like the neighbors mailbox. It’s over-familiarity causes me to pass over it so I can get to what I’m really looking for.

She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed in scarlet.

I’m certain that every time I’d read that verse I took it at face value. (I’d even give thanks for our family’s warm clothes and touchscreen thermostat.) But this time there was something different.

When I read it the words did this…

“She is not afraid of snow for her household…”

A season of worry for several members of my household had left my heart feeling like a wrung out dish cloth draped over the kitchen sink.

I. Was. Afraid.

Afraid for me.

Afraid for them.

Afraid of outcomes.

These words from Proverbs struck me as a promise.

 “…for all her household are clothed in scarlet.”

Of course.

Scarlet.  

Covered in Scarlet.

This path I was meandering on through Proverbs took me straight up a hill called Calvary.

My journal entries and the approach of Easter remind me again that scarlet flows from the cross and I and my household are covered.

Pausing to remember this gives me hope despite my concerns. My recent conviction to reject worry is steeled. The next time the enemy tries to minimize my joy and rob my peace regarding the well-being of those I love I’ll respond with a simple,

Ummm…no. They’re covered in scarlet. And nothing…NOTHING is more powerful than that.

Is there something you need to say “No” to?

• An unhealthy relationship?
• An over-used excuse for not forgiving or not receiving forgiveness?
• A recurring temptation that’s cheating you of God’s best for you?

Whatever it is, there’s power in the blood, power in the cross and power in the “no” that is two simple syllables away from being uttered.

{Be sure to stop over at Suzie Eller’s #livefree community today for more sweet words on that powerful little word “No”.}

Your (Learning to say “No”) DoAhead Friend,