As a woman who loves to bake, I can tell you that there’s nothing more disheartening than baking up a new bread recipe then cutting a slice after it’s cooled only to find that it’s dry!
Ugh.
It’s frustrating to go to all that trouble only to have dry morsels fill your mouth like so many tumbleweeds in the desert. But did you know that God’s Word tells us that there is a time when dry bread can be a good thing?!
Proverbs 17: 1 says
Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.
There is nothing appealing about a dry morsel to our taste buds, but God’s Word says the blessing of quietness and peace is so great, that it makes a dry morsel more desirable than moist bread, dipped in Olive oil!
This passage is saying that peace in the home is beyond all other material blessings. A home full of feasting is wonderful, until that home is full of strife. Have you experienced how hard it is to take a bite of anything when there’s strife and contention around the table? We all have.
If peace is so desirable, then what keeps us from having it? Why isn’t it permeating from our family relationships as it should?
There can be other causes, but ladies, God’s Word gives us several pictures in Proverbs that point the finger of strife in our direction. It’s a hard picture to look at because it’s very telling. This is convicting to my own selfish heart. Listen to ways we can destroy the peace…
A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. Prov. 19:13
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. Prov. 21:9
Prov. 25:24 It is better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Prov. 15:16, 17 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a fatted calf with hatred.
Listen to what is being traded in so that apeace can be found –
- Strife
- Quarrels
- turmoil
- brawling
- hatred
What would a person take so they could enjoy quietness at home?
- a corner of the housetop
- a corner of the roof
- just a little material goods
- a dinner of herbs
- a dry morsel
Love sweetens dry morsels
~Matthew Henry
If you’re realizing that there is little peace in your home, recognize that if you are a child of God, you have the Prince of Peace living in you! The Christ in you should permeate each relationship, allowing His peace to rule.
Ask the Lord if you’ve contributed to the strife by being contentious and quarrelsome. Be still and let His Spirit speak to you. Then humble yourself and make it right before God and also your family. Invite them to come in off the rooftop, and serve up some dry morsels, slathered with love. Peace will return.
P.S. It’s better for your pride to be hurt than your family destroyed.
Lovingly,
RefreshHer 