Leaving Room for the Variable
Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
Proverbs 29:11 NIV
My husband and I help with baptism on Sunday mornings. As the first service finished up, I carefully counted out the towels for the the second service and stacked them up neatly.
Later I heard one of our team members say we were short a towel. I was flabbergasted. Had I not carefully counted those things? What could have happened? Then I realized it. I thought of all of the ministers who did the baptisms and all of the participants, but had left out one dad who would baptize his own son.
I mentioned to my teammate how I had known Math not to be my best subject, but I could not believe I had left a person completely out. He reminded me I had not figured in the variable. WOW, so true and what a life lesson!
The unexpected variables sometimes catch us off guard. They may throw us off our most carefully thought-out plans or at least cause us to make adjustments. Are we flexible enough to do so?
Sometimes, God provides the variable. If we have not prayed about or included him in our plans, He may give us one to get our attention. If we become so rigid in sticking to our own strategies, we may need a variable to put our focus less on ourselves and more on him.
How do we react to the variable? Go grab another towel and move on, or stand around grumbling about our inadequacy? What if that very event was meant to achieve pliability in us and afford us more usability to God? Would that not be worth it?
So, before we panic and get ourselves in a tizzy, let’s leave some room for the variable. Proverbs 29:11 says, “the wise bring calm in the end.” What a great goal!
Father, we love calm. We love peace. Help us not to let the variables steal either.
Susan Partida
