Unpredictable Life

We'll explore  James 4 from the Bible, about doing the good we know we should, despite tomorrow's unpredictability. 

Transcript

Uncertainty and Doing Good

Speaker 1 0:12

This is simple thought , simple prayers . Here's a simple thought . I like mowing the grass . There's just something about that smell . You know the smell . I mean it's good in the summer , but in the spring I mean it just smells like spring . If I said what a spring smell like , that's what a lot of people would say . It smells like life . Even though you're cutting something which is weird , kind of paradoxical , it smells like life and you breathe it in deep and then you throw in some sunflower seeds into the mix and into your cheek , literally , and throw a good audiobook on the headset and what you have is an hour of blissful escape . But that's not even what I like best about mowing the grass . What I like best about mowing the grass is the certainty if you keep the mower engaged , it cuts , no questions asked . You walk this way , it cuts this way . You walk that way , it cuts that way .

Speaker 1 1:06

In a topsy-turvy world where death and taxes are said to be the only guarantees , it's nice to be able to cut diamond diagonal lines in a freshly mown lawn . I mean Benjamin Franklin would have added it to his list had he seen it . But stop the presses , the British are coming . Rome is burning . The dam has burst . Whatever kind of cliche of mayhem , it applies to what happened to me a great miscalculation in parenting . I let my two-year-old join me in mowing the lawn . How it happened is this I wanted to mow the lawn , my wife wanted to be an active part in my son's life , so I chucked a stone at some birds . Right , I mean , the birds were fine . My sense of control was the only casualty here in what I mean is I , two birds , one stone , like I could . I can do this , I can figure out both things , I can get my way and a piece of my wife and it'll all work out . So what I did was brilliant , right , I set my son up with his little John dear lookalike toy mower in the yard and I began cutting the grass , encouraging him to play act the same thing you mow over there , dad , I mows over here . It'll be perfect , we'll get the lawn mowed , will hang out , everyone will be happy . And it worked for nine seconds . And then he ran over and tried to touch the mower . I think the part of the mower with particular interest for him was the blades , the worrying blades that would chop him to bits . That's kind of what he seemed to be groping towards , and so , of course , I killed the mower . I stopped it and he just smiled at me . And then he played with the wheels for a while and then he told me that this was indeed a lawn mower , as if I hadn't figured that out yet . Then he started pushing the starter button , which I wouldn't allow to be engaged , and then I had another . Like epiphany , I said hey , hey , here's an idea , buddy , I figured out that my mower actually only works when both hands of yours are on your mowers . Maybe you should just jog on over there , grab your mower and this thing will start up and we can get going again . And it worked for nine seconds , and this is how it went . It took me an hour to mow half of my backyard in approximately 462 , nine second bursts . We walked in after this holding hands and him talking about how fun it was to mow .

Speaker 1 3:25

This whole episode made me think of this verse in James , chapter 4 from the Bible . Basically , it says listen up , those of you who say you are going to this city or that city to make money , blah , blah , blah , blah . This is my own translation . The blah blah , blah is what we all do . Tomorrow I'm going to X is what we say . Next year we're going to Y on vacation to do Z , and I tell you more about it . But I'm at the end of hypothetical letters . But that's what we do . We just plan and plan and plan all these future hypothetical things . We all do this . The future is set , it is assumed , it is certain , it is death , it is taxes , it is straight , diamond , diagonal lines and freshly mown lawns .

Speaker 1 4:06

The passage then goes on and says to these planning types , to us , you don't even know what will happen tomorrow . You Now , whether you agree with the Bible or whether you like the Bible or not , it has a really good point here and we're all living that point right now . We don't know , we don't Like . This season of life shows us that we don't know . I mean , you could say , well , I'm a prepper and I have like a bunch of jars of applesauce or whatever preppers have . I prepared for it , but you didn't know exactly when it was going to happen , exactly how it was going to happen . We just don't know . So what do we do with that ? Well , the passage concludes this way there's a few more verses , but then the conclusion of that is if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it , it is sin or wrongdoing . If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it , it's sin for them . I love that we don't know what life we have left , nor what is going to happen tomorrow , or in an hour or in nine seconds . So what's the answer ? Well , according to this passage , the answer is goodness . The answer is love . You don't know what tomorrow holds , so today , do the good things you're supposed to do . You don't know what the next minute holds , so in this minute that you have right now , do as much good as you can Love with it .

Speaker 1 5:36

I wanted with nearly every fiber of my being to yell at my son while we mode . I wanted to be lost , to leave me alone . Go find your mom . I wanted him to see the logic and the process I was engaged in , but perhaps he wanted me to see something else . That nothing is certain , and I never knew when his sprinting form was going to lop up to the mower , to stop my progress and invite me into progress of a different time , to invite me into goodness and to relationship and to care .

Embracing the Good and Seizing Life

Speaker 1 6:16

Putting off my own agenda , putting off my own goals , putting off my own plans for the good right in front of me . So I just want to spend a second and pray for that . God , we don't know , we don't . I pretend I know . I pretend that I have control over all these things . I pretend I know exactly how my retirement is going to pan out in a few decades . I can't even mow my lawn without unforeseen interruption . I don't know .

Speaker 1 6:50

So , whatever you give me right in front of me , allow me to see the good in it and do the good in it . Allow me to see opportunity for love today . I don't know , this probably isn't my last day on the earth , but if it is , let me just carpet DM . Let me just seize life , seize the day , seize the good . Let me love my neighbor . Let me be kind to someone . Let me not blow my top because I don't get to do my plan , but instead embrace my son . Let me realize that the world doesn't ebb and flow with my own planning . God , give me a heart to see . Give me patience , give me courage . Let me walk in the good today . Let me be kind to someone . Let's just seize life and become the 9600s . Let us raise high . Let we become the 9600 . Let's raise high , let's get high .