Watch Out for the Ditch! - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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Watch Out for the Ditch!

Proverbs 4:11-27

Intro: ILLUSTRATION: One day years ago, Harold (nicknamed Cowboy) was delivering a load of 100 bales of hay to my house for my horses.

He was a farrier (horseshoes, floated their teeth, did a lot of training, etc.)  As he was pulling into my driveway, he ran in the ditch. He had a trailer loaded with hay sticking out in the road. I was standing in the yard when he pulled in, and I saw that he was cutting it too close. I started yelling, “Watch out for the ditch!! But he didn’t hear me.” I had to get my 4x4 and a logging chain and pull him out. There are some lessons that I learned that day.

These verses in Proverbs 4 refer to the path.

It keeps coming up - vs. 11, vs. 12, vs. 14, vs. 18, vs. 19, vs. 25-27 all make reference to our feet and our path.

I want to preach tonight in WATCH OUT FOR THE DITCH!

How much of my ministry is spent hollering to people “Watch out for the ditch!!”

Just a few things that God says about a DITCH.

A ditch in the Bible is a picture of…

A. The Description of a Helpless Life 

Job 9

·        27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

·        28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.

·        29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?

·        30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;

·        31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.

B. The Defamation of a Heathen Liar

Psalm 7

·        14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

·        15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

·        16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

·        Psalms 9:15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

C. The Degradation of a Harlot’s Lewdness

·        Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

·        Proverbs 23:27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

D. The Deception of a Hypocritical Leader

Matthew 15

·        7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

·        8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

·        14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

That day what "Cowboy" ended up in my ditch, I learned several things about getting in the ditch.

When you are in a ditch…

I. The Predicament is Harsh

Ole Cowboy was bogged down good. Up to the axle.

He sank down so fast that he couldn’t get out.

A ditch is not designed to drive in or travel in.

It is unfriendly terrain. A ditch is a rut – it is uneven, it is rugged, it is precarious.

In many cases, it is deep and dangerous.

A ditch is usually full of mud – trash, debris.

It’s a picture of a time of hurt, pain, frustration, suffering, discouragement.

People get caught in a ditch and can’t get out.

There are many kinds of ditches that people get themselves in.

·        FINANCIAL DITCHES – the Bible talks about being in debt; the cave of Adullam was filled with men in debt. 2 Sam. 22

Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

·        EMOTIONAL DITCHES – people struggle with depression, discouragement, anger, bitterness, etc.

·        MENTAL DITCHES – people can’t control their thought life;

·        MORAL DITCHES – they fall into sin (David and Bathsheba is a good example); addictions are a ditch

·        SPIRITUAL DITCHES – sin which doth so easily beset them (lay aside every weight)

When you are in a ditch…

II. Progress is Halted

Our theme this year is FORWARD.

You can’t move forward stuck in a ditch. Proverbs 4:12 makes multiple references to going forward.

·        Proverbs 4:12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

STRAITENED: to bind, be distressed, be in distress, be cramped, be narrow, be scant, be in straits, make narrow, cause distress,

IF YOU ARE IN A DITCH…

·        You can’t grow.

·        You can’t be a blessing.

·        You can’t enjoy church.

·        You can’t enjoy your Bible.

·        You can’t have a successful prayer life.

·        You can’t enjoy ministry – or each other IF YOU ARE IN A DITCH.

When you are in a ditch…

III. People are Hindered

Traffic jams are the result of one person running off the road.

That day that Cowboy ran into my ditch, everybody coming around that bend had to slow down and drive around him.

People that were having no problem at all driving suddenly found their journey interrupted.

Some even stopped to try and help him get out of the ditch.

One person’s mistake affects so many other people.

The road suddenly became dangerous for others.

This one mishap created such a distraction for so many people.

Many others were affected by this one man’s inability to stay out of the ditch.

·        Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

·        Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.

Do you realize how many people you cannot help if you are in a ditch?

Do you realize how many others are affected, influenced, hindered, discouraged, distracted when you are in a ditch?

Conclusion: How do you stay out of the ditch?

Proverbs 4 gives us some secrets.

               A. Remember the Exhortation – vs. 11-13; 20-22

               B. Refrain from Evil – vs. 14-17; 19

               C. Restrict your Eyes – vs. 23-27