A few years after I was divorced, I met a man that was very kind to me. It may sound strange, but up until that point in my life, I had never known a man that was kind to me. Even though Chris was a perfect gentleman, I didn’t trust him. One evening when he came to visit me, Chris asked me to go outside with him to look at the moon. As we were gazing up into the sky, I sensed his powerful presence as he stood close behind me. I turned and looked at him and said, I’m not going to sleep with you.

Proverbs 21:5 says, “the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but every one that is hasty only to want.” The word translated hasty, ’ûwts (oots) means to press and by implication to be close. It also means to hurry or withdraw (213). The word want indicates a deficiency or some sort, so hastiness resulting in want could mean a failed effort or losing something due to a rushed effort. The thoughts of the diligent being successful probably means that you’ve thought things through before initiating an action or planned for something ahead of time.

What I said to Chris was a mistake, but it was consistent with what I was feeling in the moment. I was afraid and didn’t know how to handle the intimacy of the situation. I wanted to stop what was happening, not because it was dangerous, but because I couldn’t handle the flood of emotions that was coming over me. Emotions can cause us to do things we wouldn’t normally do. In my case, fear made me react to Chris in a way that was inappropriate. My hasty remark not only ruined a special moment, but it damaged our relationship.