“CIRCUMSTANCES AND DOING STUPID STUFF”
I use my circumstances as excuses (even I know they aren’t reasons!) for doing stupid, evil stuff. I didn’t sleep well (or enough), It’s cold and grey. It’s rainy. My wife is gone for several days, and I miss her. My kids won’t speak to me. I have to wait tables. I can’t find a better teaching position. I’m an addict. On and on and on . . . . Ad infinitum ad nauseam.
But here is the truth: I do stupid, evil stuff because I choose to do so.
And here is an even deeper truth: I can choose not to do stupid evil stuff. Instead, I can choose to do something loving for someone else. I can choose to praise God. I can choose to do the next right thing.
Circumstances are not excuses for anything. Circumstances are . . ., well let’s face the truth: Circumstances are circumstances!
Profound, isn’t it?
Well, maybe it is profound in a rather obvious way. Simple truths are the ones I most often trip over. They could be stepping stones, if I would remember to walk in the light of God. Instead I go stumbling around in the darkness of my own self-pity.
And that is the problem for me—self-pity, not circumstances. I feel sorry for myself. No amount of grey, rainy days can make me make bad decisions. Not sleeping well can make me sleepy, but not automatically grumpy.
Years ago I read the following: “No matter of ocean can sink a ship unless it gets inside.” I need to get out of the import business, when it comes to circumstances.
What would happen if I acted as if I believe what I’ve written here?
I think I’ll make some good choices and find out!
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