BBD 03.28.08 Biting the Hand that Feeds You
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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03.28.08
Biting the Hand that Feeds You
The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the
Lord. - Proverbs 19:3.
Danielle Herndon and her mother were on their way home to Indianapolis on
Interstate 70 when Rex Shannon suddenly passed them off the road on the
grass. Shannon then crossed the highway in front of them before his car
flipped and crashed. Danielle did what most people would do - she called 911
and ran over to the car to try to help.
I once saw a car flip several times in front of me while driving in Missouri
after a wheel came off of a truck and the driver tried to dodge it. Another
man who had stopped to help went down to the car with me which was laying on
its top but the driver was okay and he crawled out of the window about the
time we arrived. However, sometimes when a vehicle is involved in a violent
crash the fuel tank may be ruptured or a fuel line may come loose causing a
fire or explosion and that was on my mind that day in Missouri. I think that
what Danielle did was a very courageous thing to do.
Approaching the crashed car Danielle says, "I thought he was dead." She
says, "I leaned down and asked him 'Are you okay?' I didn't see any blood or
anything. 'Are you okay? Is everything okay?' and he started cussing me." It
was a complete shock when Shannon suddenly ran toward Danielle's mother and
when Danielle got in the way he began hitting and biting her. He was still
biting her when police officers arrived responding to the 911 call. Danielle
has a broken finger and her nose may be broken in addition to the bite
injuries. After officers arrived Shannon kicked and spit on them. Shannon
has been charged with five felonies.
Biting the hand that feeds you is a term that I think is from the distant
past. You can feed a snake but it may bite you even though you just fed it.
The same thing may happen with a bear, or a lion, or even a sometimes a
horse. To our human minds it seems completely illogical that after we help
an animal or a fellow human being that they would turn around and bite us!
This is the kind of thing that Solomon is referring to in Proverbs 19:3. The
New International Version makes this easier to understand as the verse is
translated as: "A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages
against the LORD." The New Living Translation makes it even clearer: "People
ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord."
In other words they bite the hand that feeds them!
Sadly, there are a whole multitude of people just like Rex Shannon. They may
not be drunk like he was and they may not be attacking another human being
but they are still biting the hand that feeds them. I've seen or read about
a huge number of people who have messed up their lives through substance
abuse, or selfishness, or greed, or promiscuity, or dishonesty, or by
something else. You would think that they would be reverent and respectful
toward God and call out to Him for help. However, many of them shake their
fist at God and curse Him, blaming Him for their problems instead of
themselves.
In 1 Peter 5:7 Peter says that God, "cares for you." That's right, God cares
about you and He loves you. Peter also says that we can place all of our
anxiety, all of our cares, all of our concerns upon God. So, instead of
cursing God when bad things happen, instead of biting the hand that feeds
you, why not ask Him for some help because He is the One who can help you.
He "cares for you."
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