One of the striking testimonies that came out of the Oklahoma City bombing a few years ago involved a man who was sitting in his Murrah Building office thinking, “I wonder what God is going to have to do to get my attention?” Just then, the floor exploded from underneath him!

Proverbs 19:25 indicates that what it takes for God to get your attention says a lot about you:

“Strike a scoffer and the naive may become shrewd, but reprove one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge.”

Notice the qualitative difference between the words “strike” and “reprove”. It only takes a word: (“reprove”) to change the person with understanding. But you have to “strike” the naive (the simpleton, the fool) in order to change him.

Proverbs 17:10 teaches this same lesson: “A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.”

What it takes to really speak to you, and get you to change, says a lot about you. Are you sensitive and responsive to the Lord? Can He change your course by giving you a scripture, or a good word of advice from one of His people? Or does He have to bring something more difficult — even catastrophic — into your life to get your attention?

The old saying is surely a good one, reflecting this Proverb: “a WORD, to the wise, is sufficient”!