If you follow me at all, you know love football. I’ve been watching it most of my life, and one thing I’ve noticed is that when a team loses a close game, everybody seems to know exactly why they lost.
It was that interception in the fourth quarter. The missed field goal. Or maybe a terrible call by the coach that left everybody scratching their heads.
We tend to point to that one play that ended it all.
But what about the rest of the game? The missed tackles, the dropped passes, the opportunities to score that we let slip away. They all contributed to the final score, but somehow we put most of the blame on that last mistake.
I’ve noticed we do the same thing in life.
When something bad happens, we tend to look for that one reason it happened. I suppose we like neat and tidy explanations. Something we can zero in on and hang all the blame on.
But what I’ve found over the years is that it’s rarely just one thing.
I’ve seen it in business, relationships, and even churches. Something goes wrong, and everybody starts looking for the reason. Usually, somebody has already decided what it is before all the facts are even known.
Sometimes that final mistake really was a big one. But I’ve also seen situations where the problem had been developing for months, even years, before that last thing happened.
Decisions were made. Things were overlooked. Opportunities to change course came and went.
And then one day something happens, and that’s all anybody remembers.
Proverbs 18:13 says, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” (NKJV)
I’ve been guilty of jumping to conclusions myself. There have been times when I thought I understood exactly what went wrong, only to find out later there was a lot more to the story.
And sometimes, if I’m willing to look closely enough, I can find a few things I could have done differently myself.
I think we have to be careful about putting all the blame for something on one person, one decision, or one moment.
Because when we convince ourselves we’ve found the reason, we usually quit looking.
And there’s often a lot more to learn.
#FirstLight #Leadership #FaithAndLife #Wisdom #PersonalGrowth
First Light
www.firstlightblog.org
A daily reflection on faith, leadership, and life. One honest thought each morning to help start grounded, focused, and full of grace before the world even wakes up.
By Nathan Clark