If you could have one, which would you choose: Roast beef leftovers for lunch that you fix yourself, or a peanut butter sandwich fixed by a maid? It’s a silly question, I know. I’m going somewhere, trust me. =)
I am an I Love Lucy fan. Her antics and scheming have kept us all entertained for years. Do you recall the episode where she hires a maid? She is intimidated by Mrs. Porter right from the first introduction. The maid tells her what days she needs off, what she will and will not do, and then proceeds to eat the Ricardo’s out of house and home. Because Mrs. Porter ate the leftover roast beef in the fridge, she fixes Lucy a lunch of what was left – dry and very sticky peanut butter on white bread. As Lucy attempts to eat it, she can’t even open her mouth to speak due to the gooeyness of the sandwich. She is, of course, hysterical as she attempts to tell the hired help not to fix her another dry morsel, but can’t even pry her jaws open!
I thought of that hilarious episode yesterday when I read this verse:
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
Proverbs 17:1
There are several other verses in Proverbs that would be companions to this verse. They all teach us that it’s better to have a little bit of something in our hearts and home (even a dry peanut butter sandwich) and enjoy the quiet that is a result, than to have that roast beef for lunch and have strife.
The “sacrifices and strife” might be things that would keep us busy and away from home. We are running here and there with friends or family, dragging the children along, trying to keep them happy while so doing. They miss nap time and are cranky because we had to run to the mall for the sale we heard about. Or they are delayed finishing up home school as a result of our outings and they are now irritable while trying to do what should have been done hours ago. We are experiencing roast beef with strife. It would be better to have the dry morsel – that of missing out on some of those excursions so we could be home where we need to be. Why is it better? Sit still and listen to the peace and love that’s there and you’ll know.
It might mean really sacrificing as a mom to stay home with your child(ren) – especially while they are young. I know there are scenarios, such as that of a single-parent home, where there is no option. In some cases, though the financial stress would press upon a family, many times that stress is less than the strife caused by carting a child to day care and not being sure of all they are being exposed to each day.
“Roast beef Lunches” in a marriage might be a wife finding greater fulfillment outside her marriage than in it. Oh, she may not be running off with another man, but if she isn’t making her husband her first priority, as God intended she’s having roast beef and strife. Her job, her children, her hobbies become more important and there is conflict, and she wonders why.
Take a good look at your personal life and ask the Lord to tell you – Is there quietness or strife in my home? If there is dissension more often than quietness, ask the Lord for wisdom as to how you can rid it from your life. He will show you. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5
Have a peanut butter sandwich today, and smile at the quietness.
So, on the trivial side, a maid with peanut butter or roast beef that you fixed yourself? Which would you choose? I’ll tell you my preference tomorrow. =)
With love,
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