BEFORE THE VALLEY

I wish there were signs posted in life warning us that we were about to enter some valley of testing. There are times when we appreciate that choices result in consequences, but there are other occasions when the unexpected happens.

Plus life doesn’t seem to have any plotted cycles. You can go along one day and the world seems perfect then all of sudden some disaster strikes. Or you can be in the middle of what seems to be a crisis and then good news will explode in your face.

All of this is simple observation. Not a suggestion for a cure or a way to avoid problems. Still for the sake of this posting it is foundation.

I was having a conversation the other day with one of my employees. She was planning a day off and suggested this one other employee that is a friend of hers could cover her shift. Well this other person has covered her shift before. It was a disaster. The other person did only about half the work assigned in nearly half again as much time. What was really ridiculous is that this person had actually done this shift before so there really wasn’t anything new about the shift she shouldn’t have known.

The last time that employee covered the shift and it was a disaster came after several other incidents of her demonstrating she just didn’t for whatever reason have the ability to do what was required. So as the supervisor I basically removed her from the shift and decided it was futile to expect to have her try it again. I wasn’t trying to be unfair or punish her unjustly, but I did understand one simple reality about this situation, people often never change.

I’ve seen that for years as a supervisor. There are some habits intrinsic to some people’s nature that they will never change. It becomes an exercise in utter futility to place unrealistic expectations upon their behavior. So for me it is a matter of trying to place a person into a position that truly compliments their talents and work behavior.

And if knowing all that I ignore the reality and do opposite of what is logical and prudent then the ensuing valley is my fault. Which I might not enjoy, but I accept it as a point of truth one faces plenty of times in life.

I mention all of this as part of the “dynamic” of living that I think we all face. Yet we are emotional creatures and dreamers and sometimes want to ignore that burning in our gut that says if we do something it will lead to a valley.

With the spiritual realm even though God is in charge, he often allows those same parameters to effect us. Some people will treat it as a place where praying for God’s will can somehow sidestep this reality. But it doesn’t.

We might not always know the Lord’s will in life. But we still can appreciate how wrong choices lead to wrong consequences. Standing before the valley with your eyes closed doesn’t make the valley stop existing, even if you are praying in the process.