“. . .  first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  – Matthew 7:5 

It has been nearly forty years since this incident occurred, so I have long forgotten the details of the matter, but one day out of frustration I found myself confronting a couple of my colleagues who were doing, or not doing, something that was inhibiting my ability to do my job.  I recall, to my great surprise, how they listened patiently and promised to take care of the matter, which they did.  But just as I was about to walk away, they summoned me back.  While you’re here, they said, there is something we need to discuss with you, and they commenced to point out something I was doing, or failing to do, that was also impeding them from getting their work done.

It was one of those embarrassing moments I have never forgotten, for even though my complaint was legitimate, so was theirs.  Worse, though, was that I had failed to see – or more likely, refused the admit – that there was a plank in my own eye before pointing out the speck in theirs.  And while that was certainly not the first time I ever committed such a grievous sin, it may be one of the few times I had to face up to being caught in the act.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Jesus challenged his listeners.  “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” 

It just makes sense, doesn’t it, that if my neighbor neglects to mow his lawn in the summer or rake his leaves in the fall, what credibility do I have to complain to him if my dog is keeping him awake barking all night, or if I have allowed my tree limbs to fall onto his rooftop?  Once I tend to my own mess, then perhaps we can discuss his.

Fortunately, my colleagues and I worked out our conflicts quickly and amicably, while still remaining good friends.  And while that was hardly the last time I have failed to take the plank out of my own eye before pointing out a speck of dust in someone else’s, it certainly raised my awareness of the value in doing so.

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”  – Exodus 20:4 

When we were raising our kids back in the ’70’s and 80’s the parenting method de jour was centered around experiencing “natural consequences” which many child psychologists advocated as the best way for children learn the difference between good and bad behavior.  Put your hand on a hot stove, for example, and by getting burned you’ll remember not to ever do that again, that was the theory.  Made sense to us, so like many parents during that era we adopted the idea, or at least we included it in our arsenal of parenting methods, along with a mix of others including – heaven forbid!! – the occasional dose of corporal punishment.  Right or wrong, somehow by the grace of God our kids turned out all right anyway.

In the words of the late American writer and politician Harry Browne, “Everyone will experience consequences of his own acts.  If his acts are right, he’ll get good consequences; if they’re not, he’ll suffer for it.”  If he is correct, then understanding consequences is not only important for young children, but equally important for adults.  The decisions we make, the actions we take, how we respond, what we say and how we say it, everything we do creates consequences – good or bad, immediate or long term.  And consequences not only impact us, many times they also impact others around us.

In presenting the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai God included a warning about the depth of consequences that will occur for obedience versus disobedience.  The iniquities of the father, He explained, will be visited upon the children into the third and fourth generations, but those who are righteous will be blessed to a thousand generations (per my own interpretation and paraphrase of Exodus 20:4).  That may not mean that God is going to necessarily zap us for our disobedience, but one way or another we will likely suffer the “natural consequences” from it.

“Everyone will experience consequences of his own acts;” and those who have learned to pause and consider such consequences – good or bad, immediate or long term – before choosing to act, they are the ones on the cutting edge of wisdom.  We should pay attention to them.

“You armed me with strength for battle . . .”  – Psalm 18:39 

According to my airline pilot friends the periodic flight simulator training and testing they are required to undergo has less to do with the basics of normal takeoffs, landings, and flying their particular aircraft, and much more to do with responding to adverse situations.  Most experienced professional pilots can practically fly a plane blindfolded.  But what they must practice over and over is how to react when things go awry, of which there are endless possibilities.  More than anything else, and thankfully so, it is this preparedness that limits the number of mishaps to the small percentage it is.

Likewise, there are a lot of excellent golfers around, but only an elite few become PGA winners.  The difference between the amateurs and pros is not that the pros necessarily hit the ball longer and straighter and sink more putts, nor do the pros do a better job of avoiding trees and sand traps.  What the pros do better, thus setting them apart from the amateurs, is recovering from the tree hazards and sand traps – dealing with the adversity they encounter.  Same is true for football, baseball, soccer, basketball, or any other team sport.  Certainly the teams who play the best and make the fewest mistakes will have the advantage, but odds are the winners will also be determined by the teams who scramble out of tight situations most effectively.

In my youth I had dreams of a perfect life, perhaps you did too – perfect job, perfect home, perfect family, perfect everything.  But life doesn’t work that way, does it?  “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus reminds us (John 16:33).  Adversity is inevitable.

For those of us who live in Texas, as well as many other parts of the U.S., we have certainly experienced our share of adversity this past week from what has been an unprecedented and devastating winter storm.  (Need I mention the extraordinary adversity over the past year?)  But what separates an abundant life from a tragic one is neither the absence of adversity nor the severity of it.  Rather, as with the difference between professionals and amateurs, it is how we deal with it when it occurs.  It has to do with “being armed . . . with strength for the battle,” as the Psalmist says, the source of which comes from leaning on the One who arms us with that very strength.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  – Romans 12:21 

In the late 1980’s the large Wall Street investment firm for which I worked acquired a smaller regional firm here in Texas.  Not surprisingly there were cultural differences between the two companies that inevitably led to feelings of mistrust toward those of us who were associated with the large acquiring firm.  One longtime employee from the company we acquired, an older gentleman, was convinced that his life had been taken over by some big “evil empire” out to destroy his way of conducting business and his livelihood.  Nothing, of course, could have been further from the truth.

For several months it was bumpy ride.  The man complained and argued about everything.  Nothing we did seemed to suit him.  While we could have been argumentative and combative in return, instead we chose to shower the man with kindness, sometimes having to grit our teeth to do so.  Finally, he began to calm down and accept us, and over time we actually grew to become really good friends.

It has been said that the best way to get rid of enemies is to turn them into friends.  Easier said than done, but the secret ingredient is forgiveness – both forgiving the other person when he or she errs, as well as admitting our own faults and begging the other’s forgiveness.  It was through this very process that we were able to turn this man’s mistrust into trust and his bitterness into friendship.

Forgiveness involves both attitudes and actions.  That is, we may not always “feel” forgiving toward someone, but we can still respond with actions such as lending a helping hand, sending a gift, or smiling at him or her even if we must grit our teeth in the process.  Often what we will discover is that right actions lead to right feelings.

That is exactly what occurred between the gentleman and us following that corporate merger.  Right actions eventually led to right feelings, mutual trust and respect.  It is about this that the Apostle Paul offers great wisdom, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  It works!

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”  – Psalm 40:1 

There’s an old joke about a man praying to God.  “God?” he asked.  “Yes?” the Lord replied.  “Can I ask a question?”  “Of course, go right ahead,” God said.  “God, what is a million years to you?” the man asked.  “Why, a million years to me is only a second,” God answered.  “Hmm,” the man wondered.  Then he asked, “God, what is a million dollars worth to you?”  To which God answered, “A million dollars to me is as a penny.”  The man thought for a moment.  “God,” he asked, “can I have a penny?”  “Sure!” God replied.  “Just a second.”

I’ve never had a big issue with God’s willingness to hear my pleas, nor his assurance to deliver on his promises.  My problem has always been trusting his timing.  In fact, the biggest blunders I’ve made in my life have almost all been the result of impatience.  Instead of waiting patiently for the Lord, I tend to jump the gun and take matters into my own hands, which usually turns out to be a disaster, like the time I became overly anxious for a promotion in my career and jumped the gun, taking another position that instead of advancing my career almost wrecked it.

Waiting patiently for the Lord, however, does not mean putting our lives in neutral and wandering aimlessly wishing something would happen.  No, it is about knowing something will happen, just not the exact timing, and in the meantime to continue to prepare for when the time does come.

A bewildered young man once entered the seating area of a train station where he noticed a large sign on the wall.  “WAITING ROOM – NO LOITERING,” it said.  Isn’t that a contradiction, he thought?  Except the waiting room is for those who are prepared, have a ticket, know where they’re going, expecting the train to eventually show up; whereas loiterers have no ticket, no destination, wandering aimlessly with no expectation.  The young man had shown up prepared, with a fully paid ticket to a specific destination, with a sense of certainty the train would eventually show up and take him there.

Older and wiser now – and after many blunders – the words of the Psalmist are slowly starting to sink in, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”