Of course, I had to explain what I meant. She caught on to the concept and nailed him with her logic.
That got me thinking about some ill-advised cause-effect relationships I’d established through the years. The most disheartening was the decision to sell our dream home because we thought the backyard trees were causing my husband’s asthma.
The house sold in a week. Unfortunately, further investigating proved that my husband’s asthma attacks had come within weeks of spreading mulch containing rose petals. Sim is highly allergic to roses. Wrong cause-effect but too late to back out of the sale.
Often, we make decisions without thinking them through. Recall the silly song about the man who kicked the dog, setting off a chain of events he could have never anticipated, simply because he was taking out his anger on the wrong “cause.”
Churches fire the pastor because worship attendance is declining. Other factors are rarely considered. Business leaders decide to cut costs by firing the people who do the work (without cutting their own salaries). Airlines sacrifice maintenance to increase revenue. The list goes on.
In our personal relationships, we often jump to conclusions without waiting for the facts to emerge. That’s also true spiritually. If we don’t get immediate answers to our prayers, obviously God isn’t good or loving, right? He must not care! Or we’re just not important to Him in the grand scheme of things.
Let’s resolve to make decisions based on solid, soul-searching, Scriptural principles that have stood the test of time. Don’t get your daily exercise jumping to false conclusions!
Before you ascribe blame to anyone or anything, make sure you have the right cause for the effect. How? Prayer, careful analysis, and intense soul-searching. You can live between the ditches!
