Seek before you shovel.
I peek out from under my water logged hair and look at my mud-covered team. We are all shaking our heads and giggling as the rain begins to pour. As we stand with our shovels in hand and stare at the disheveled ground, I know our silent thoughts are identical.
Yesterday, we spent a good portion of our day driving shovels into this mud to make the trenches we were now filling back up. We weren’t adding anything new into the ground and nothing was being removed. We were simply putting back the dirt we had dug out.
You’re probably wondering, what was the point right? As we giggled, we wondered the same.
The intent of the trenches was to protect a series of pipelines. We were going to dig far enough down to bury the pipes and prevent the goats from stepping on them. There was just one problem; we weren’t really focused on the location of the pipes.
The pipeline ran alongside the house’s pool deck. Digging the trenches so close to the deck meant risking it’s structural stability. Needless to say, we didn’t learn of this risk until after the trenches were dug. So, with humble hearts and mud-caked hands we began to put the dirt back.
In the midst of refilling the trenches, I began to look for the deep and symbolic lesson God wanted me to learn. Did he want to dig out all the dirt from my heart and refill it with something new? Was there a need to dig deeper in my emotional relationship with God the father? Was I living my life in the trenches and needed to climb out??
While all of these nuggets of wisdom seemed incredibly poetic, (and might’ve been lessons my teammates walked away learning), these lessons were not meant for me. In fact, I learned more from outside of the situation than the situation itself. I learned about communication.
Here’s how…
We got our assignment for the day and it was to dig trenches. The “go ahead” to dig was given and we quickly followed through. (While hearing instructions and then hustling into action shows great work ethic, it isn’t always the best tactic). As a result of quick instructions and a rapid response to act, we left out any input from our ministry host’s dad (the one person who knew the most about the landscape). He could’ve told us before we began that it would cause damage. Instead, we acted on limited knowledge, quick communication and left out any input from the expert.
I realized I do this so often in my day to day. I am presented with a problem, consult myself, sometimes ask the people around me and then quickly spring into action. Never pausing to bring it to the expert FIRST. I never bring it to God. The one who knows my situation the best! Or I bring it to him but I’m not patient enough to wait for his answer and rush to solve it on my own. Do you ever do this? Too often I try to solve my own problems and it leads to more difficulty. Too often I dig unnecessary trenches in my life that could’ve been prevented.
So here’s my lesson.
If I consult God first (the one who knows the entire landscape of my life), I don’t have to worry about digging a trench that causes more damage than good. I can dig into the mud knowing that even if I am uncertain, He knows how to instruct me. I have the expert who knows where to direct my shovel.
In our case, we put the dirt back and were able to laugh at ourselves. I am sure God laughed with us too. No true damage was done, we just spent a day doing an unnecessary task. Next time however, I’ll ask for God’s advice and save myself the blisters.
