The Triple Beam Balance We Call Life

            I’m a firm believer in the phrase “everything happens for a reason.” It only makes sense; I mean it makes sense biblically and scientifically. God is always in control and if He allows something to happen then that has to be for some sort of reason regardless of whether or not we know that exact reasoning. Even Newton said, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So why is it that if I believe everything happens for a reason I still use the phrase “life isn’t fair” on a frequent basis?

Life is kind of fair.

             I think a lot of our anger or frustration toward how the world works is simply attributed to our lack of understanding. Last November 11^th I got in a car accident. You know how when you’re ice skating and you can’t stop you usually run into a nearby wall in order to stop yourself? Well, basically that is exactly what was done to me. I was the wall and some guy going 30-40mph used my car to stop him instead of using his brakes. He was the skater, my car was the wall, and in between there was a loud smash noise. Anyways I was really shaken up by the accident for a solid 2-3 months. I had trouble sleeping, I was terrified of driving, I didn’t want to be alone, I was petrified of the dark, I couldn’t sleep without a video playing in the background and some lights on, and even till this day almost a year later I have not driven over that same piece of road. I am not trying to sound
dramatic but even finding the pictures of my car in order to show what happened made me cringe and it was difficult to actually look at these pictures again. I’m not generally a wimpy person and I don’t usually scare easily. To paint some perspective I’ll just mention the fact that this accident blew out my back windshield completely, deployed my airbags, snapped my driver’s seat in half, made my radio fly out of its socket, popped my front hood, and cracked my front windshield too.  Some would deem the entire situation as an unfair random event. But maybe those who would perceive it as such just lack the understanding necessary in order to comprehend such a thing. Newton’s Third Law says every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So I went through something that sucked; but, I guess I consider that as my payment for all the good that came afterwards. I got a new car! I went from a 1996 Honda Accord to a 2007 Honda Civic, an eleven year upgrade! I grew closer to my best friend Erika too. I was really scared and shaken up afterwards and Erika was the first person I really talked to about being so scared. She was the first person who I asked to pray for me over it all and that helped us to grow closer. I grew closer to God through all of it too! I learned what it meant to feed my faith and starve my fears. I would say all of these things were direct opposite reactions from my car crash and they were definitely equal if not greater. It’s all in perspective. It’s easy to look at the bad outcomes of life because I think it’s common to want people’s pity. But honestly, if you’re that person, you’re most likely the friend that nobody likes.


             Then there are the troubles and problems you somehow place yourself in. I’ve had my fair share of those too. It’s strange but somehow issues you position yourself into are even more difficult to understand despite the fact that you placed yourself there to begin with. I mean I got myself suspended in 7^th grade and I’m still searching for an equal and opposite reaction from that experience 10 years later! I think the purpose in these moments is simpler than we usually notice. When I place my own self in a sucky situation I think it just teaches me time and time again that I’m human and I need God in my life. These moments point me back to the importance of my salvation and how in-need I truly am. I believe that throughout our life we our responsible for our obedience and from then on God is responsible for the outcome. But what if we take a step or make a decision that isn't obedient? Surely, God does not remove himself from a situation when we make a wrong choice. I think even if you make a wrong decision you can still trust God for the outcome of that decision. He brought death to life! He can do the same for your mistakes no doubt about it! I also think these moments teach me to grow up and take responsibility for my own faults and mistakes. I once heard this really great story of moral value.

Once upon a time there was an architect and a contractor. The architect had drawn up plans for 12 different houses, each of them more detailed than the last. The contractor signed on to build all 12 houses for the architect. After the contractor finished the 12^th house he was exhausted and he went to go see the architect in order to receive his money for the job. The architect looked at each of the 12 houses and saw that each was more beautiful than the last. The architect then reached into his pocket and the contractor patiently awaited his long-anticipated hard-earned money for a job well done. However, instead of pulling out a checkbook the architect pulled out one more design for a final house. The contractor was disappointed. The architect then asked him to build the final 13^th house. The contractor began his work and soon realized that the 13^th house had immaculate features and the work was ridiculously meticulous. The contractor quickly grew frustrated and decided that his other 12 houses could speak to his ability and then the contractor felt justified in slopping together the 13^th and final home. The final house was sturdy and up-to-code but the work done was nowhere near the contractor’s full-potential. Once the contractor was finished sloppily putting together the final home he met with the architect for what he hoped would be the very last time. However, when the architect drove up to the 13^th house and saw the contractor waiting outside he didn’t even get out of his car. Instead the architect rolled down his window and chucked the contractor a set of keys and said, “I designed this house for you! I want you to have this final house! Thanks for all your hard work!” The 13^th house, the contractor’s worst work, was now his own permanent home.

God designed this world for us. God wants us to have the nicest house possible. In most cases the things we build in our lives are probably our best work, our nicest houses. But there are always those houses that we build in our lives that just barely stand up-to-code. There are always situations we place ourselves in that don’t reflect on the best parts of our character. The contractor got to take responsibility for those 12 beautiful homes but he also had to take responsibility for the 13^th home as well. It’s nice to be able to claim all of our accomplishments but I think a greater sign of maturity is when we own our mistakes; owning those times that most people would be ashamed of, taking responsibility for our indiscretions. The people I look up to in my own life didn’t simply ignore their 13^th house. The people I look up to in my life took responsibility for building a crappy home and decided to work on their fixer uppers. I think learning to take responsibility for your mistakes is the bigger lesson after screwing over oneself. Because taking the responsibility over your mistakes is the only way to take responsibility for change in your life. How can you claim the great change if you can't first admit there was something you were changing from? You don't have to dwell on the past but you should at least learn from it.