You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” Haggai 1:6
As I was sitting out back eating my lunch and looking at the beautiful scenery of the woods, I admired all the wonderful sights and sounds. The crows are cawing, the songbirds are singing, the bees are buzzing, and the butterflies are fluttering. The noises are incredible today!
I was listening to the loud rustling of the leaves. It ended up being a big, adventurous gray squirrel. It decided to climb the tree and see how high it could go. Looks to me like it might be reaching its bravery goal. How great is this?
I didn’t think it could get any better, yet I caught a glimpse of something new. The old tree just inside the woods that died and never got cut down was put into use today. I watched a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker fly right to it and get to work. Its red crest was going back and forth as it chopped holes into that tree. How does that little thing have so much power? The bark was flying in order for that woodpecker to get its lunch.
The Pileated Woodpecker showed how much destruction can be done in such a short time. Here’s the thing…those holes it drilled will actually benefit some other creature by the shelter it created. What I saw though, was how quickly a well placed jab can create destruction. When one keeps jabbing at the intensity that woodpecker was (I saw the speed in which the bark was coming off), the damage can be tremendous.
I really think children and nature are quite often better than textbooks in learning. God shows us little nuggets of wisdom He wants us to have through them.
When we’re hammering away at someone (nagging), it doesn’t remove the problem we’re yammering about, it just creates holes in the relationship. Is what we’re bothered by even that important?
My dead tree that could’ve irritated me because it hadn’t been dealt with, had a much more important job in the long run. It allowed the Pileated Woodpecker to live around my home, which gave shelter to other creatures I enjoy too.
Today, make gentle requests if necessary, but don’t drill holes into your relationships. They really are too important for that kind of destruction. If you get your way today, but lose in the long run, is it really worth it? Work on saying less and keeping more.
