Proverbs 3 (and a little 2): My First Tension

I had a crazy Wednesday, so I didn't have time to post my thoughts on chapter 2, but i'll keep it brief. All throughout the chapter it was talking about all the things that Wisdom will save us from; evil people and bad situations basically. And idk if i'm crazy, but this automatically made me think about testimonies. I grew up in the church, and all other church kids like me always say "man, i have a lame testimony". And we all envied the books our youth leaders would make us read about these people who had to hit rock bottom personally before they ever turned to Christ, and then from then onward they lived these exemplary lives. We ignorantly said to each other, "man, their hard times were soooo cool, that's a good testimony". I actually think that Chapter 2 lets us know that God doesn't necessarily want it to get that bad before we turn to him. Not to discredit anybody's spiritual journey, but i think if God had a choice, he would want us walking as closely to him as we can, taking on his Wisdom so we can avoid some of those dark experiences. Church kids will have their own struggles that will build their faith, take pride in your testimonies, they are important to God and to your evangelism later in life. As a psych major, i'm cooking up this analysis of the different cognitive experiences of Christians who have grown up in the church vs. Christians who have not. It could be good, it could be bad. TBD on that one, haha

Now, Proverbs 3. Reading this chapter i experienced some of the tension i was talking about in my first post on Proverbs. So please all yall reading, correct me if i'm wrong. But do verses 1-2 sound a little misleading to yall from our Christian standpoint?:

"My child, never forget the things i have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years and your life will be satisfying." NLT

Really? Following God will bring me long life and satisfaction? Yeah, it will, but i'm not sure that's necessarily the promise God gives us through Christ. What about Jesus' words in Mark 10:21-22:

"a brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved."

That doesn't sound too "satisfying" to me. And didn't almost all of Jesus' disciples suffer young and gruesome deaths? Scripture tells of James being stabbed to death (Acts 12:2) and Stephen being stoned (Acts 7: 59-60). If you wanna see how hard the Apostle Paul's life was, take a look at 2 Timothy. You'll see Paul, the spearhead of the early Jesus movement, sitting in jail awaiting his execution alone, and although full of faith and purpose in our God, a little bummed (2 Timothy 4:9-18 gives you a good intro to his situation).

I know that was a lot of stuff; passages taken a little out of their contexts, and ill formatted, but I put it there to remind us of the suffering that's involved with following Christ. I have no idea what a Korean Christian felt reading that passage in Proverbs, when a dozen of them are huddled together reading one Bible that they all share because Bibles are illegal in their area (or at least one time were, it's been a while since i read about the plight of Korean Christians). And that if ANYONE saw them reading it, they would be shot dead on the spot. Ya know? Of course i'm not saying that Solomon is wrong in his sentiment here, that would be prideful of myself. But i'm asking us ponder how to reconcile verses like Proverbs 3:1-2 and Mark 10:21-22. If we as Christians believe that following God equals "long life and satisfaction", what would that make our Christianity look like?

Instantly the thoughts that came to mind were, well it's just a difference between Jewish and Christian thought. Or maybe it all depends on what you mean by the word "satisfying", because of course giving of yourself and sacrificing for God definitely is satisfying to those who love Jesus. Or maybe i'm thinking too hard, and misreading this point of wisdom. I've thought through a million possibilities already. So I've been and will be thinking all day about how this sentiment from Solomon is applicable in my walk. So yeah, please, tell me....what do you guys think about this?

~Jamal