"It Happens"

 Things happen, yes, they often do,

And surely can surprise,

No one can control it,

But learning to be wise,

Means doing everything we can,

To make a choice and then,

Connect it to the consequence,

It produces and just when.

I stepped on a horse one day,

That later bucked me off,

No real reason for it,

He just sent me aloft.

But often times the things I did,

Were what caused the wreck,

It’s good to know the difference,

The reasons to detect.

And, yes, we reap just what we sow,

So careful with the seed,

Make sure what we do and say,

Will give the crop we need.

And realize that sometimes,

It’s not as clear as this,

There are times the reasons why,

Are anybody’s guess.

And that’s why we need wisdom,

And claim God’s promise, sure,

That He will work in everything,

That happens, we endure.

The Book says God is generous,

When wisdom’s what you lack,

And we by faith receive it,

And never will look back.

“You will always harvest what you plant…” (Galatians 6:7, NLT)

Our choices are like seeds that contain consequences. The important thing is to connect the dots between the seed and the harvest. If you don’t like the harvest, plant different seeds. Simple, right? But then sometimes things seem to randomly happen and we can’t make any connection between the results and our choices. In fact, there may be no connection at all. For example, we raise a child in the Christian faith and point them to Christ at every turn. The promise is that when they are old, your righteous seeds will produce a harvest. But what about the season of rebellion they are currently going through? Is it your fault they are misbehaving? No, and don’t take the blame. What if some tragedy occurs? Sometimes it’s clearly because of negligence or drunkenness or some other human failure. But not always. In those cases we have to trust that the Lord will use even the worst of what happens for His glory and our good. He does not cause it, but He allows it. And that’s where faith and godly wisdom serve us well.

Lord, help us plant righteous seeds and trust You with the rest, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Kenneth Wyatt, used by permission. Thanks, Kenneth, and God bless you.