I got up this morning and read Our Daily Bread and today’s subject was about heeding warnings. The article outlined the fact that our most obvious warnings are the mistakes of others. Paul uses the people of Israel as an example to us not to make the same mistakes as they did when they continued to turn away from God and turned toward sin even after they were delivered from slavery.
Exodus 32:7-9 says: : 7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' 9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people.
Once I read this I said to myself, “How stupid can you be?” Then I carefully climbed down off my self righteous high horse and remembered all the times I ignored clear warning signs because I just had to see for myself. My adventures with the bigamist were the most obvious but there were plenty of times when I received warnings that I just chose to ignore. Here are a few examples:
Warning: Don’t go to school out of state … spend two years close to home and then transfer.
My response: I’m getting the hell outta here!
Result: I wasn’t ready to be away from home at 17 and I ended up leaving school at 19 and never got my degree.
Warning: (from my mother) I was using the rhythm method when I got pregnant with you
My response: I’m more careful than my mother was
Result: My daughter (I’m glad she’s here I just wanted to wait a few years)
Warning: Maybe you should research this company a little more before you accept the job.
My response: All I need to know is that they are paying me more money!
Result: 17 months of working for a woman with no backbone who lied more than anyone I have ever met.
Why do we do this? I often wonder why we as human beings always have to see things for ourselves. Why does a child actually have to touch a hot stove, sometimes more than once before they believe they will get burned?
Obviously, I think about my children when I ponder this subject. As a parent, I automatically want to shield them from all hurt, harm or danger. I tell them not to have sex but if they do, they need to protect themselves. I tell them not to smoke cigarettes. I tell them not to take drugs. I tell them to study hard, go to college and begin a career doing something they love before they settle into a serious relationship. Yada yada yada.
I wonder if my warnings are falling on deaf ears. I won’t stop warning though. Their lives could depend on it.
These are specific lessons that no one ever taught me. I had to figure all this stuff out on my own and I don’t want them to go through life doing things the hard way. I not only give these commands but I also tell them why or why not. Trust me, there is a lot of talking going on in my house – even if it is one-sided.
Here’s an excerpt from an actual conversation between my son and I. This happened last night when I was doing the dishes. He gets up from the computer and sits down in the kitchen and begins talking:
J: Mom, is it wrong for me to keep turning down all these girls?
Me: Who’s after you now?
J: No one new. But there was A, B and C.
Me: No it’s not wrong to turn down those stupid girls.
J: Don’t judge my friends, Mom. A and B are not stupid.
Me: (I guess he acknowledges that C was stupid) Okay. I didn’t mean stupid. I meant fast.
J: What is that supposed to mean?
Me: It means that chasing boys is not the way a lady conducts herself. By them being so fast it’s only going to lead them somewhere they don’t want to go. If not with you, then with someone else. And that is stupid. And you don't need to be with no stupid girls.
He rolled his eyes and walked away.
I do believe that if he hears my warnings enough when faced with a real life situation he’ll make the right decision. Not only regarding the stupid, I mean fast, girls but other situations as well.
I didn’t always but I’d like to think that in some ways my kids are smarter than me.
