When I moved first to Missouri, I encountered a different personality type. For lack of a suitable term, I have come to call it "self-effacing wisdom." A person with self-effacing wisdom would say something like this: "I don’t know a whole lot about these things and I’m not the brightest bulb on the string, but it just seems to me .", and then out of his mouth
comes a profundity that knocks you over with insight.
In a small group Bible Study recently, I experienced the wisdom of a couple who are the self-effacing wisdom types. Their names are Gary and Sandy.
Gary and I needle each other as frequently as possible and he usually gets the best of me, but that’s okay because his wife usually gets the best of him.
In the Bible Study Gary told the story of his recent haircut, administered rather laboriously by Sandy. "She was working on my hair, and I hear her say, ‘Oops!’. Then she had to take off more to fix it, and she said ‘Oops!’ again. Then she had to go over to the other side to even it out, and then she says, "Oops!" over there. When she got done I was surprised
I had any hair left at all."
Sandy felt she needed to speak up. "You know the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut, don’t you? It’s about seven days."
Remember – this conversation took place in a Bible Study, the context of which related to bad things that happen. The point my two friends were making? It might look like God is giving a bad haircut, but just give these things some time and it will all work out in the end. He knows what he is doing even if we don’t, and he has no need to say, "Oops!"
That’s very much what Paul meant when he said, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 KJV)
He also wrote, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4 NKJV)
Worried about stuff? Going through some hard times and don’t know why? Remember who is in charge. The bad haircut will look good in just a few days.
Lenny Cacchio
