Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
Yesterday my husband was mowing the grass. He was on the riding lawnmower making good time getting that straggly green stuff cut when out of nowhere there is a wheel in the yard. Now, said wheel was not currently attached to the lawnmower. Hmmm…looks like we have a problem. I have to say it isn’t all that unusual to have to stop mowing because something went wrong with our wonderful tractor. That is a weekly occurrence. This was a first though! It did make him pause and stare at the lawnmower with a surprised expression. Usually he is heading off to get one of the belts we keep as back-up, but instead he picked up the wheel and just stood there looking from it to the lawnmower.
I was curious…how was he going to respond to this set-back? He turns around, looks at me just as calm as can be and says, “No big deal. I don’t really need that.” If he had a surprised expression on his face, mine was of shock! No big deal? Does he not see the wheel that is now in his hand? He doesn’t need the wheel? I will tell you that I had nothing to say to that one. I was speechless and that can be a bit of a hard feat to accomplish. I was proud of my hubby! He didn’t get upset and he wasn’t going to let it stop him from accomplishing his goal of finishing the yard. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to what I was doing.
How often do we let a little bump in the road sour our moods, get everybody around us worked up, and keep us from reaching our goals? Also, when you look at something as no big deal, then the people around you will look at it as no big deal too. How many times do our children look to us to see our reaction before they respond to a situation? Our dogs will do that too. If it is storming and we ignore all those crazy noises while going about our business as usual, then they take their cue from us and do the same. My hubby’s action completely influenced my reaction.
I learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Bumps will come in all shapes and sizes, but it is how we navigate them that determines if we accomplish the final goal. Not only that, but it determines if everyone is still smiling at the end.
If something doesn’t go your way today, don’t be anxious. Let God know what you are thankful for (it will remind you too) and ask for his help. Don’t just ask for help with the problem, but that you can keep the “no big deal” attitude!
