It isn't HIS fault!

When I buy something new, especially some kind of electronic device, or little gadget designed to make my life easier, I usually am pretty excited by it.  I think it will meet whatever need I have and am eager to put it into use in my home, work life, etc.  Have you ever stopped to consider just how short of a time span it really takes for the excitement to wear off?  In my youth, I would have just rushed into decisions, not really considering what I was doing, much less the "why" behind those actions.  As I have grown up a little (and heaven knows I am still "growing up"), I have come to the conclusion rapid decisions and impulsive actions actually have a cost to them I may not want to actually pay.  Excitement fades - reality sets in and it around for a long, long time!

Being excited about something is not enough. You must also know what you are doing. Don’t rush into something, or you might do it wrong. People ruin their lives with the foolish things they do, and then they blame the Lord for it. (Proverbs 19:2-3 ERV)

There is much truth in the scriptural reminder to us that being excited about something (or someone) is not enough - we must also know what we are doing! This is where we get the phrase, "fools rush in".  We indeed do stand a pretty reasonable chance of bringing ruin into our lives, if not ruining our lives, when we choose to be foolish in our timing, intent, or planning.  We need all three to be under the guidance and leadership of the Lord in our lives - timing is best when it is on his schedule; intent is better refined when it is filtered through his mind; and planning is best when it is under his watchful eye.

We always want what someone else has, wish we could have gone where someone else has gone, or yearn for the accomplishments another has achieved.  We can live our whole life wanting, wishing, and yearning, but when we do, we miss out on all the living God intends for us in the "right now"!  We can live too impetuously and make foolish decisions, or live too cautiously and miss out on all God intends for us.  Either way, we are not living as full of a life as God would desire for us - we need the balance of both.

Excitement without knowledge is just not productive, is it?  I have been excited about a lot of things which have come down the road in my lifetime, but I can also assure you the excitement did not produce any real commitment from me to actually take what was coming and put it into good use in my life.  Why? Enthusiasm is easily deterred by difficulty, laziness, and just plain dawning of common sense!  Sometimes I didn't even need God to tell me I bit off more than I could chew - my own common sense began to kick in and I realized I was into something I should have avoided in the first place!

I don't mean to knock my employer, but I have seen a lot of things come and go over the years - returning again in a different format, called a different thing, spruced up a different way.  It wasn't entirely productive the first time around, but the concepts were good.  They just didn't produce the desired results - the culture didn't change as they hoped.  All the planning didn't produce the results. Why?  People need more than good theory to produce something - they need the desire, passion, and commitment of heart, as well.  We can offer all kinds of good theory, but it remains theory until the resources are put into it which actually turn it into reality.

In our walks with Christ, we can put all kind of thought into things we'd like to see differently, but until we take what is merely "theory" to us and begin to put it into action in our lives, it will remain an untapped resource!  We can rush in without enough forethought to actually "cement" the theory into something we can put into practice within our lives, then wonder why it didn't "take". We can also reject stuff which could save us a lot of lost time and unnecessary worry - just because we don't want to make the effort.  Either way, we end up almost accusing God for our lack of growth.  How foolish is that?  Just sayin!

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