Spring 2023 has sprung in Broken Arrow, OK

Friday, May 18, 2018

Jumping to Conclusions...


It seemed that I timed the last mowing of our yard before the grass went dormant last fall just perfectly!  I didn’t have to mow again until April of this year.  This was unlike the end of the previous season when I had to pull out the mower after about a month in order to cut down the pesky grass and weeds that snuck up immediately following what I thought was to be the last mowing!

The only problem with this year was that I didn’t run any of my lawn care equipment for almost five months.  In previous years I was really good about starting everything up at least once a month so when the mowing season began anew, everything ran well.  But this year I can’t say the same thing!  When I finally pushed the riding mower out of the shed last month… while dodging the snake that had taken up an early spring residence in there… I changed the fluids, checked over the engine and turned the ignition key… but to no avail…  It would crank a little and stop.

Well, needless to say, I was not a happy camper.  I had what I thought was a similar problem with it during the summer last year and had called on my handy Sears repair man who came out, discovered a loose throttle lever, tightened it up and left me with a well running machine, but not before selling me an extended warranty.

So, my immediate conclusion was that I would be needing to call the repairman again.  The problem was that the front yard was beginning to look somewhat unkept after the winter season and I really wanted to run the mower over the vast lawn and clean everything up.  Like I said, I was not happy and tried to fiddle with the throttle and other parts of the engine but nothing seemed to help.  The one good thing that came out of that initial beginning to the mowing season though, was that I was able to pray, figure out and then fix my self-propelled Toro hand mower that hadn’t run for over a year and was able to mow the unkept looking parts of the front!

My point for this story was that I drew kind of a hasty conclusion about the riding mower.  I was very busy that week with various appointments for Piper and other errands that needed to be run and didn’t have time right away to call Sears.  Therefore, I pushed the mower back into the shed until I had the time to begrudgingly deal with it.  But in the meantime, after I cooled down about the problem, I had a revelation… why not pray about what to do with the mower?

Yikes!  What a thought… A Christian asking God for directions concerning his lawn mower!  And you know?  I did and He actually gave me an idea… So I pulled out the battery and charged it for a few hours on my Dad’s old battery charger that I had recently found in an unopened moving box I had cleverly stored (and subsequently forgotten about) in the garage!  Then after I put it back into the mower... low and behold it started right up and has every time since!

Pretty simple right?  Why didn’t I think about that before I allowed myself to get all pushed out of shape with what I thought was an unsurmountable problem that I couldn’t handle without outside assistance… because I immediately jumped to an incorrect conclusion about the situation without going to God first.  I mean, doesn’t the Bible tell us that the Holy Spirit is our helper (See John 14:26) or that if we need wisdom to ask of God (See James 1:5).  I had the means to a rather easy solution to a simple problem that I had blown way out of proportion!

I get the impression that Mary, the mother of Jesus was not one prone to jumping to conclusions before seeking the Lord and having all the pieces to the puzzle.  Luke 2:19 tells us that after all the miraculous events and out-of-this-world activities that occurred on the night of Jesus’ birth that she “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (KJV)  Dictionary.com informs us that to “ponder” is “to consider something deeply and thoroughly; to weigh carefully in the mind.”  In other words, to look at every angle of what you are considering.  Look at the good points, the negative points and the indifferent parts of what is being discussed, in order to get it right before making a decision.

My thought is that Mary was a living, breathing example of James 1:19 where the Pastor of the church in Jerusalem told his readers: “Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and should not get angry easily.”  (God’s Word ©) 

She was one of the “Wise people” that Hosea prophesized of when he warned the Children of Israel at the end of his book by declaring “Wise people will understand these things (the Word of the Lord that he gave to them).  A person with insight will recognize them. The LORD'S ways are right. Righteous people live by them. Rebellious people stumble over them.” (God’s Word ©)  Thayer’s Greek Definitions states that the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “Wise” describes the man or women who “forms the best plans and uses the best means for their execution.”

I like that thought!  It makes me think that the best plans and uses that I can get a hold of come from Godly wisdom and insight… with a little bit of homework by looking into all the facts of the need… wouldn’t you agree?  I’ve been on the negative end of individuals who came to quick and incorrect conclusions that directly affected my wife and I and… “OUCH!” it stung worse than any other sting I had ever received in my life before then!

You know… I could have saved myself a lot of personal grief if I’d only taken a moment, swallowed my pride and sought the Lord concerning how to get my riding mower working again!  You may think that a lawn mower is an inconsequential thing to be bothering God about, but I’ve come to learn through the years… and by watching my wife live her life with a very intimate relationship with the Lord… that He wants us to come to Him with everything that concerns us!

I want to be considered by others as one of the “Wise people” that Hosea spoke of… How about you? 

Have a terrific weekend, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Whose wisdom am I expecting to seek… and not jump to conclusions before I find it… in my life today?”




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