Have you ever known what the wise thing to do was, and chose to do the foolish instead? Sometimes, we just learn the hard way, don't we?
I decided to go on a walk yesterday, as I often do. However, while I normally stick close enough to home that I can circle back quickly, this time I decided to walk 2 hour away from the house. I wound up 2 cities over, didn't take water or sunscreen, and still had to walk back. At this point, it probably would have been a good idea to call a ride, right? Yeah, so I took my phone and called my friend to come pick me up...
is what I wish I could honestly say. Instead I decided I could walk back.
I picked up a couple of beverages and started the trek back to the house. At first I was feeling okay about it. I'd drank some water, I was ready. Unfortunately, it was also a hot day, and I not only hadn't taken the walk back to the house into consideration on this walk, I'd also neglected to consider how the heat was affecting me. I didn't realize it at the time, but I started getting pains or cramps that I just assumed were from going on such a long walk (even though that's not a normal experience for me). I was slower, weaker on the walk back. It wasn't until my vision blurred for a moment that I thought, "well, that's not good". I finally called my friend at that point, and she came to pick me up. I'm still dealing with the repercussions of the overheating and dehydration.
Why did I keep walking? Why didn't I call for a ride when I realized how long the walk back was going to be, knowing full well that I hadn't drank anything on a hot day after being outside for two hours? I wish I could say I had a sensible, reasonable answer to that question. I genuinely just decided, "I can make it back". I knew it wasn't the smart plan, but I did it anyway. We live and learn, right?
I'm in a Bible study on Ecclesiastes right now and was thinking about how there is a time for everything that we do (see Ecclesiastes 3 especially). There was a time to call a ride, and I chose to walk instead. It wasn't wise, but it's what I did. What do you do when it's time for you to take an action? Do you go for it, or choose to do something else instead, even though you know what you should do? If we really think about it, I think we can all reflect on some times we didn't make the wise move, but chose to take a more foolish route instead.
Best to learn from the past but not dwell on it. No matter how many times we make a foolish decision and have to pay the consequences for it, God is still gracious to watch over us and bring us close to Himself. He won't always stop us from making the poor decision, and He'll still let us deal with the repercussions of our choices most of the time (like today, I have a crazy sunburn and fatigue symptoms from that walk), but he won't leave or abandon us for making a bad choice, especially if we come back to Him and seek Him. God is so good for that. So next time, I'm going to plan smarter when I go on a walk, either to arrange a ride back ahead of time or not walk so far away while unprepared for the return trip. After all, there's a time for everything. What's it time for you to do?
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