Proverbs 1:32-33 (CB)

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.

COMPLACENCY. One mark of the fool is to be wise in his own eyes. This leads to the deadly spiritual condition of complacency. There is nothing more foolish than to think you have life under control when it is not controllable. The classic example is Jesus’ parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:19–20). No matter what type of designer life you think you have put together for yourself, bereavement, illness, betrayal, and financial disaster happen to everyone. No amount of wealth, success, power, or planning can make you immune to them. Fools live in a dream world of self-sufficiency. They think they have everything sorted, and their complacency leads to disaster. But the opposite of complacency—anxiety—is no solution, either. We can lose our overconfidence and still be at ease, without fear if we remember that we have the omnipotent, sovereign Lord of the universe as our Father. Christians also remind their hearts that if God did not spare us his own Son, how will he not give us whatever we need (Ro 8:32)? If things are going pretty well for you, are you getting complacent? If things are not going well, are you getting anxious? How can you avoid both?

Prayer: Lord, You are in control, and until I rest in that, I’ll be a miserable fool. Amen.