"A wicked messenger falls into adversity, but a faithful envoy brings healing"
wicked
This is the Hebrew word rasha, which means wicked or criminal. Remember that the dominant orientation of a wicked person in the book of Proverbs is someone who is unashamedly selfish even when it harms another.
In other words, if a message is being relayed by a person who is always selfish and even when their selfish gain involves other’s loss, then you can count on their message to be in some way twisted to their advantage.
In other words, one must weigh who gives you the message. I have been amazed at listening to my own teenage daughters and other young people get all troubled by something that a person at school told them. When I ask them if the person is trustworthy, they will often reply that the person who told them this truth is a very egoistic person or extremely self-centered. This type of gossip chain needs to be stopped. Do not take the information of someone who is clearly selfishly motivated or activated.
This used to be called just clear Christian thinking. Since everyone is born with a sin nature, we can count on people to act in a manner that will benefit them. Sometimes there are those who will benefit themselves even at the expense of others. This deeper understanding of the people around you will allow you to realize that unless a person gives you significant experiential reasons why they can be trusted, you can count on the fact that they will be selfish and their information will be twisted in some way in their favor. Do not be surprised by this or disappointed by this. It is who we are unless we pay attention to the new nature within us that Christ made possible.
messenger
The wicked person who is taking a message or trying to complete a project has all kinds of selfish ideas come to mind on how to use this message or project for their own means. They do not respect moral boundaries, so they seek to use the message for their own ends. It is this selfishness that gets them in trouble. They fall into adversity because they are trying to use the message, project, or information for their own ends. The idea of falling is that it always seems like a chance occurrence or random adversity, but it comes to them because of their selfishness. If they had not been trying to use it selfishly, they would not have encountered the adversity.
faithful
This is the Hebrew word emun, which means faithful or trustworthy.
envoy
This is the Hebrew word sir, which is means word messenger or envoy.
healing
This is the Hebrew word marpe, which means healing, cure, health, remedy. The idea here is that the person who can be trusted to give the accurate, unvarnished news will allow you to actually formulate the right plan. But the person who gives you biased information, gives you trouble.
Do you evaluate the source of the truth you are receiving? If it comes from a professionally selfish individual, then it is significantly skewed.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz