House of Pain

Proverbs 7:26-27

Do not stray into her paths; for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men, her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death.

In thinking about my series for TNT in June, I thought about Tyler Perry’s hit sitcom, “The House of Payne.” Tyler has a way of blending comic relief with the Pain of family dysfunction. There is always some episode we can identify with because we all have some Pain in our house. The great thing about looking at somebody else’s house is that you can learn from other people’s pain or at least that would be the wise thing to do.

The writer of proverbs was looking through the window of his house at a young man who lacked understanding, he observed him going by the house of an adulteress at night. A lot of us head toward this house of pain by making the fatal mistake of going by there at night. Maybe Whodini was right, “The Freaks come out at night.” Many of the bad decisions we made were made at night and we chose the wrong path at the wrong time. Maybe we would do better staying on our street in our own house at night. Then maybe we would not have brought pain back to our house.

This woman was so smooth with her words. The writer says her lips dripped of Honey. This young man was slowly slipping into a trap. Who is it that has been talking to you and their words are sweet but you know that it is only going to lead to bitterness in the end? This young man was slowly slipping into a trap. She was dragging him to Hell. I saw the crazy preview for that movie, “Drag me to Hell.” There is no way I’m going to see that movie or let anybody drag me to hell. But the reality is that many of us are letting people drag us to hell. The problem is that they don’t look like demons or monsters. They look good, they have nice shapes, they have six packs, they have banging bodies but they are dragging us to hell with their smooth talk. Proverbs 8:18 says, but he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell.

How can we avoid this house of pain? Where did this young man mess up?

1. He went to her house at night. Jesus said in John 11:9 - Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.

2. He knew she was married but kept talking. This is what messed David up with Bathsheba. He knew she was married but kept entertaining the thought of being with her. When you know who someone is and you know where it is leading cut it off before you talk yourself into something you can’t get out of.

3. She seduced him with how good it would be but hid how bad it could hurt. The word seduce means to lead astray usually by persuasion or false promises. That’s powerful. How many times have you fallen for false promises? Don’t let them lure you away to hell with promises that they can’t deliver on.

4. He didn’t count the cost. Verse 23 - He did not know it would cost his life. We could avoid a lot of pain if we could just ask ourselves what happens if I get caught? What happens if this gets exposed? It’s not worth it no matter how good it sounds.

5. He thought he was stronger than most men. This is the trick of the enemy; the devil always makes you think that you will be the only man/woman in history to ever get away with it. If we look at the annuls of history, we will discover that every great man has been brought down by three things Power, Money or Sex. What makes you any different?

There are three ways to avoid the house of Pain?

1. Pay attention to God’s wisdom. Proverbs 8:1 - Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? Make sure you are listening to the right voice.

2. Do not turn aside to her ways. Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

3. Do not stray into her paths. Matthew 7:13 - Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.

Dear God, grant me wisdom to stay away from this house of pain. Order my steps in your word, dear Lord, do not let me deceive myself into thinking I’m stronger than all those who have fallen before me. Help me to walk by the light of day and not stumble into the house of pain. Thank you for being the ruler of my house.

In Jesus Name.
Amen.