When my wife and I used to live further out of town, this time of year was when the mice began looking for a cozy place to nest for the winter and they always seemed to think my storage shed was an ideal spot. My strategy every year was to put a number of traps in the shed and it was usually very effective. But one time, I recall, one was able to make a bold escape.
Not finding a trap where I had placed it, I searched the shed suspecting the critter had caught its foot in the trap and had drug it somewhere else, fully expecting to find a dead mouse. However, what I found at the opposite end of the shed was an empty trap, well, almost empty. A piece of the tail was still there surrounded by gnaw marks. The mouse had chewed off its tail in order to escape the trap! Smart mouse, or so I thought.
I set the trap again, placing it in the same location, and checked it the next day. Once again, I had caught a mouse. As I picked up the trap to dispose of the critter, I noticed half of its tail was missing. The same mouse had returned to the same trap, but, unfortunately for it, the results were different this time. Not such a smart mouse after all!
How often do we escape a bad situation only to return to something similar again? I remember getting out of a bad relationship in college shortly after deciding to follow Jesus, but against the advice of many, decided to return to it with even worse results. According to Solomon, I was a fool, and I would wholeheartedly agree.
By his definition, all of us have been fools at one time or another, repeating the same mistakes over and over. Parolees are notorious for committing crimes within months of being released from prison. There are students who, despite their falling GPA’s, refuse to discipline themselves in their studies, opting rather to continue the lifestyle that contributed to their academic decline in the first place. I know people who have struggled financially for years, but continue to make the same poor economic choices.
The challenge is to take a step back and examine the bad choices we sometimes will inevitably make so we will not repeat them. However, that is much easier said than done. If it were easy, the world and our lives would be more perfect because we would learn from our mistakes and those of others. Yet, the overwhelming evidence is we don’t learn so easily. So what do we do to avoid becoming fools?
The Psalmist gives us an answer: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” (Psalm 111:10) Having fear of the Lord is not being afraid as much as having a deep respect for our position in relation to God. We are far inferior and having a fear of the Lord is recognizing that. And when we do, we realize how much He has to teach us. That willingness to listen and obey is what will help keep us from being fools.
Today, recognize it is not enough to just get out of a bad situation. The question is how can you avoid getting into a similar one that may have even worse results? Humbling yourself before the Lord and gaining understanding from Him is a good place to start and the best way to avoid becoming a fool.
© Jim Musser 2017
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