Not a Pebble After All

My backyard birds are gluttons. That’s the only explanation I can come up with. Well, that and those pesky squirrels. Our bird feeder stays empty because I can’t keep up with them.

This morning I started out with a fresh bag of seed and nuts and the various tools I needed to do some other morning garden work. One mental eye watched the clock because my goal was to be back in the house before the thermometer hit 125 degrees.

As I worked quickly as possible, I noticed a little something under my foot on my flip flops. But I was in a hurry and didn’t want to stop and deal with it. I can hear you; and once again, I have to ask you to make allowances for me. I know it was just a flip flop but I had a lot to do in little time.

I found that if I limped a bit it wasn’t quite so bothersome. Then I started to wince because my foot was beginning to hurt. Finally I stopped to do what I should have done all along – deal with a small situation when it happened. What I thought was a pebble was only a tiny leaf with a stiff stem. It would have taken no trouble to brush it away when I started. At this point it was wet and hard to get off and my foot was tender.

Hard to believe, huh? But entirely true and so indicative of the way I often approach those little things that take up way too much space in my mind. Someone says something that doesn’t sit quite right with me. And rather than figure out why I’m reacting to the remark or forgiving the person if it was truly hurtful, I shove it into my mind and say, “Doesn’t matter.” Later I find myself limping through my day with a dark cloud overhead and the nagging suspicion there is something terribly wrong. When I stop to figure out what it is, I realize it’s that little something that bothered me earlier. I have let an entire day be ruined by nothing!

A small chore that needs doing can mentally cripple my day. I will spend hours brooding over something that will take me ten minutes to complete.

If Jesus promises me peace, I have two choices. I can believe He is faithful and address the little nuisances in my life as they occur. Or I can take them in, give them real estate in my mind, and let them ruin my day. Either way, what He offers doesn’t change. How I accept it will make the difference between a joyful day and a cloudy one.

Matthew 6:34; Romans 8:6
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own…The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace….