If the wind caused the back door to slam shut with a loud bang…and if Flossie was in the store, she would yell out: “I didn’t do it!” If someone dropped something and it made a loud noise, and if Flossie was in the store, she would yell out: “I didn’t do it!” On the rare occasion that something made of glass should ever drop and break…if Flossie was in the store, you would hear her yell out: “I didn’t do it!”
Flossie was another one of my childhood memories of working in my father’s general store. I never really understood why the otherwise “quiet Flossie” would yell out like that. Perhaps she was frightened by the loud noises or afraid that she might somehow be looked at as responsible for the noise? I never knew…
But sometimes today, I wish at times we could see just a little bit of Flossie in some people as they chase whatever it is they are chasing. I think you might know what I’m thinking of…we all see it at times. We certainly view it on the media and in some sporting events…it’s widespread in the business world, and it’s even finding it’s way into our educational systems. What is it that creeps in?
When success and achievement comes to a person, team, or a business, it seems like someone immediately steps up and claims: “I did it! It’s all my achievement!”
I’m not pointing fingers at anyone here. God has always given me a balance of blessings to keep me happy and burdens to keep me humble. And through them all I always kept in mind Deuteronomy 8:17-18A “You may say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But, remember the Lord Your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, …”
It’s up to each one of us to do the best we can with the skills, gifts and talents that God has given us. How He uses those gifts in us and through us, as well as to what degree, is His choice for each of our lives.
The following goes against everything the world and modern technology tells us, but it’s true and I like it. I Thessalonians 4:11-12 “and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
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