We say the weather is ugly, the tree is a sorry excuse for a tree, or ultimately, if “they” hadn’t done this then “i” wouldn’t have to do that. What and how we choose is our responsibility, and the weight of our choices does not rest on anyone but ourselves. My decisions are mine alone and belong exclusively to me to embrace or resolve. i find it odd how often i don’t consider that there is really nothing wrong with the weather. The weather is the weather, but instead, i say, “the weather is ugly today”. Is it really, truly, that the weather is ugly, or is it more that i don’t prefer it?
On a very hot day in July, i was putting up new fencing. Oh my gosh, it was hot and i was soaked through with sweat. i decided i would sit under a nearby tree in the shade to rest and dry out a little. When i sat down, in a few moments i realized i was just as hot and wet as i was when i was standing in the sun pounding fence posts in the ground. i looked up and saw that the tree i was sitting under was actually a scrubby-looking thing with not many branches or leaves. Immediately, out of my mouth came the words, “You are one sorry excuse for a tree, why do i even let you grow here?” Exactly then the Lord swept in upon me and posed me a question, “Is the tree poor, or did you not prefer it? Is the tree at fault or did you simply choose poorly?”
A week later, a friend of mine came over. As he entered the house he said, “The weather is really nasty outside.” So, with a chuckle, i posed him the question God had posed me, “Is the weather really nasty, or is it more that you don’t prefer it?” i knew he was a man committed to the truth, so, although it was a defining moment, he didn’t shift the responsibility of his choice of words or accuse me of asking too many questions. Instead, he reconsidered the platform from which he made decisions. In his chair, he squirmed left, then right, and slid me an uncomfortable side glance. He then said, “Ugh, you’re right. i did blame the weather for my preferences.” Instead of accusing me of being too forensic, like a wise man, he applied the question to himself and how he thinks.
In light of that, let’s consider how often someone poses a piercing question, and instead of allowing the question to do its work in ourselves, we shift the responsibility of applying God’s wisdom to, not how we could be better, but how they, yes “they” have intruded upon us, and we accuse them of being interrogators, and question askers. i find it pretty amazing how many believers play into the idea of creative evolution by being reluctant to inquire of their own motives rather than admit they’re real motivation is in another place. Hebrews 13:14, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” The world is not our home, and it is surprising how many believers decorate their lives as if this is their final destination, dressing it up as if this is home with Jesus. They try and convince us that Earth can be made into Heaven. It doesn’t remotely look like even a simplistic idea of Heaven and we end up feeling more like exiles on Earth. “i don’t have a problem, you just ask too many questions.” Do you see how the responsibility of addressing what is really going on with us gets shifted, saying “You ask too many questions”?
We say, “these are terrible shoes”. Are the shoes actually poor or is the truth more that i have neglected to take care of them? “The test was too hard”. Is the test too hard, or is the truth more that we neglected to study enough or maybe we simply didn’t understand the material? We say, “If God would only…” this or that. Is it that God didn’t act, or is the truth more that we neglected to participate with Him and trust He will reply at the right time with the right answer? We say “If the people of my congregation weren’t so needy, then i wouldn’t be too busy to spend time with my family.” i actually heard that. Is it that they are so needy the real cause of being too busy, or is the truth, more closely, that it isn’t the fault of needy people that i don’t spend sufficient time with my wife and kids, but more because i am choosing to do something different?
Our choices are our responsibility. It is not my mother’s fault i didn’t go to college, i was the one who elected to do something else. We must cease to shift responsibility to things or other people in and effort to explain why we can’t, don’t, won’t, or didn’t. Remember, if you’re too busy, you’re the one who said, yes. No one m-a-d-e you too busy but you.
Isaiah 49:20, “The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’”
Friends, let us be responsible and ask the Lord for wisdom. We all so desperately need His wisdom. What do you think?