Which is better? Trying to pass or trying not to fail

For some weird reason, that question popped into my head and it begged/beseeched/harassed/cajoled me for answer. Won’t let me be until I started tuning the squeaky bolts and screws of my brain. The two sides are quite similar right, shouldn’t they be the same? I really hoped they were. After a lot of cranial sweating, it came to me.

In trying to pass a course for example, you might do things like go for all your lectures, pay tuition in time to avoid being sent out of classes, reading well ahead of exam period, feeding properly and sleeping well. Everything going on here is positive, yeah. Trying not to fail on the other hand, appears to have an  element of negativity. Before you consider the option of not failing, it means failure is becoming a major possibility. You would have seen it in the horizon, weighed the options of the results of failing and you realize, you really can’t afford to fail and then you start working on not failing. And this might entail things like doing crash studying at exam period, getting exam past questions, paying a lecturer to get favors etc. With trying to not do something, there is an element of desperation in play, clouding our better judgement.

Did anyone hear that rumor that Obama might be the antichrist? What followed the rumor was the frenzy of critically watching every move of the dude, so that if he does anything  that remotely appears antichrist-ey, we might go ‘yup, we knew it!’ It was years ago and for some reason that rumor popped into my head today. While watching the guy who was going about his own business, we forget to watch ourselves, we forget to be vigilant, to ‘work out our own salvation with fear and trembling’. Got me thinking, what is the difference between trying to pass and trying not to fail? or trying to be rich and trying not to be poor? Trying to get to heaven and trying not to go to hell?

Moral of all my rambling: We need to concern ourselves with the right mission. Otherwise, we will just be wasting time and resources on missions that profit nothing, running errands no one sent us. Pick your battles, take the right paths and there will be no anxiety.

 

…when the hunter becomes the hunted (Part 1)

So, I decided to take a break from the romantic, poetic, super-wise King Solomon to take a brief look at the life of his ma and pa. When I read the chapter where these two people met, I realized that the whole affair lasted just one verse (2 Sam 11:4). King sent for her, she came, he slept with and sent her back to her husband’s house. Shikenah! I found myself chuckling, pumping my fists and saying ‘Bad guy!’ I mean, he was the king right, he could indulge in any idle fantasy, move on to other conquests and not have to deal with the repercussions. It was supposed to end there. Simples. Little did he know that there is a Badder Guy who sees all, knows all and defends the helpless against the powerful.
I would give a million bucks to see the look Dave had on his face when, couple of months later, he got the message saying,
‘Yo boss-man, I’m preggers’.
I imagine he must have stuttered and asked,
‘Wh-who is Bathsheba again?’
All sort of thoughts must have been raced through his head ‘This can’t be good…she’s a married woman…Her husband is a faithful soldier out at war for me…Her grandfather is Ahithophel, my adviser…She’s freaking carrying my child!…Ok, calm down hot-stuff, you are after all the king. Solutions! Get the husband to come home and do his thingie with her. Back-up plan…kill him’
His clean-up was neat, no? And it went according to plan until The Most High stepped in to show him that even though he’s king, he doesn’t have the rights to treat people so callously. And boy, did he pay! He paid dearly and he kept paying for almost one year.
I got to thinking about all the people that have trampled on my emotions, my dreams, my efforts. They had the power to do it, they were in the position to do it. I know without a doubt, they must have had a second to decide to not go that route but might have shrugged it off, thinking I’ve got nothing to lose by doing this, so why not. And I wonder, is this what God has in store for them? *shivers*
That time you decide to let that dude spend his entire savings taking you on a boat cruise to woo you, even though you know you don’t care a bit about him and he is spending it all for nothing, I daresay, the badder guy will treat that unkindness Himself. That time you decide to sleep with that girl who has had a crush on you for forever, think twice about it. For you, it’s just sex, for her it is the beginning of a happy relationship. When she finds out otherwise, her heartbreak will not go unnoticed by the badder guy.
And for every lady that has ever been cheated by a guy who took advantage of her emotions and feelings for him or her position, chin up Sweetie, our Daddy has your back and He will make sure no one dare hurt you without suffering the consequences.