I’ll never forget the first time I met her. She was already retired and still busy, busy. She was known to be the the kind of person who told you what she thought, whether or not she thought. Even the local radio station knew her because she called them a lot to tell them her opinion about everything. 

The day I met her we were at church and though a certain scripture was not being discussed, she let me know that 1 Peter 3:1 didn’t work because she had tried it. The passage reads, “Wives …submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.”

I didn’t argue with her, but I did know God and I knew that God didn’t get it wrong.

Sometimes we are like her about another scripture. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” To challenge us all on our willingness to follow this text, I share a short, but sobering word from a poet named Ben Hildner.

As children bring their broken toys, with tears, for me to mend
I brought my broken dreams to God because he was my friend.
But then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone
I hung around and tried to help . . . with ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried, “How can You be so slow?”
“My child,” He said.  “What could I do?  You never did let go.”

These words have come to my mind on many occasions. I share it because I wanted you to have it in your own mind. It would be a blessing for you to commit it to your heart.

Lonnie Davis

Exodus 2 gives us one of the most famous stories in all of the Bible. Moses’s mother, living under the rule of a pharaoh who wanted the male Hebrew babies dead, had a son. We’ve probably all heard how Moses’ mother put him in a little boat and put him in the river. By and by, the Pharaoh’s daughter found him and saved his life. This story seems like Moses’ mother had done all she could so that is why she gave him up to the river, but by the providence of God, everything worked out. I have a different view of things.

I think his mother did not abandon him to the fate of the river. Mom stayed home with him as long as possible and then as she lived under the Pharaoh’s rule, she had to go back to work. Knowing that baby Moses was in danger. She put him in the boat and left his sister to watch after him. That way, if soldiers came by, the sister could leave for a few minutes and then later go back to watching over the baby. This would mean at the end of the work day, Mom could come home, retrieve her baby and care for him another night.

God had another plan. As Moses was in the basket in the river, the daughter of the Pharaoh found him and claimed him. Moses’ sister went to her and ask whether she should get a Hebrew woman to care for the baby. The royal daughter told her to do so, and by the way, give the woman wages.

As the baby’s mom returned home. She didn’t have to leave anymore. She was getting paid to take care of her own child. God has a wonderful way of taking care of things for us. She only had to do three things: First, Do the best she could. Second, let go of the problem, and Three, trust god.

That is the same plan we all need to follow. Let go and let God. After all God works in wondrous ways.

Lonnie Davis

This is for all of you who have ever had a problem and wondered what to do about it. I think that means all of you. It involves a true story with some of the best advice I have ever heard.

In 1939, the Nazis were invading the Netherlands. The first people to be affected were the Jews who lived in the Netherlands. A group of Christians came to the Dutch theologian, Henry Cramer, and told him, “Our Jewish neighbors are missing from their homes.” They then asked, “What must we do?”

Cramer’s answered, “I cannot tell you what to do. I can tell you who you are. If you know who you are then you will know what to do.”

Read those last words again, “If you know who you are, then you will know what to do.” The Nazis are not marching in our streets, but those words should still convict us. When Satan sends temptations, you do not need to ask what to do. You only need to remember who you are.

Sometimes Christians will be confronted with a temptation to evil. It sounds holy and righteous to hear them say, “I will pray to God for an answer about what I should do.” It is not holy and righteous. It is weak. God has already told us what to do with sin. We only need to remember who we are.

In our story, the men and women who asked the question of Henry Cramer became part of the Dutch resistance movement. They helped save the lives of many. In times of stress and temptation, if you and I will remember who God is and who we are, it will determine our conduct.

2,000 years ago, on a storm tossed ship in the middle of the sea, Paul used that principle to make his decision. He told the freighted sailors, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” (Acts 27:23-25)

Paul said, “I know God knows me and I know who I am and whose I am.” Since he knew these things, he knew what to do. When you know those things, you too will know what to do.

                                                                                                ~Lonnie Davis

These words are for all of you who have a task you need to accomplish but fear you do not know how to do it.

It was the first Sunday after the crucifixion of Jesus. 

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome gathered spices so they could finish the job of anointing the body of Jesus. Just after sunrise they started toward the tomb of Jesus. As the women were nearing the tomb they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” (Mark 16:3)

The stone in front of the tomb was heavy and these women were not able to move it. They went to the tomb anyway. They did not know who would roll away the stone. They went to the tomb anyway. There were soldiers to guard the tomb. They went to the tomb anyway.

Even the casual observer would say that these women, though they were well intended, did not have all their “ducks in a row.” Why didn’t they get some strong men to go with them to roll away the stone? Why didn’t they ask the rulers if the soldiers would move the stone or else let someone move the stone? They did not have the answers, but they went anyway.

Israel left Egypt with clothes and shoes. They may have had enough to last them for the few weeks journey to the Promised Land, but not enough for 40 years of desert wanderings. It did not matter. God is an anyway God. “During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.” (Deuteronomy 29:5)

Israel did not worry about shoes as they left Egypt. They trusted the God whom they served. The women did not fail to go to the tomb because they did not have the answer to the stone. They all started the task and trusted that God would work things out as they went along. 

If there are stones in the way or shoes that need to be replaced, just start anyway. God will provide. Tackle the task in faith. God is the “Anyway God.”    

~Lonnie Davis

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.” – Psalm 14:1

In my 30s I spent a few days in the hospital. The doctor came to my room and said, “When you see the wonders of the kidney, it is hard to imagine that anyone doesn’t believe in God.” As life when on, I understood that more and more.

Unfortunately, ours is an age when more and more Americans are believing less and less in God.  A recent Gallup poll found that 81% of Americans said yes to the simple question, “Do you believe in God?” This was down from 87% in 2017. In 1944, that number was 96%.

As I reflected on these sad statics I pondered why people do not believe in God. I came up with several reasons.

1. Misunderstanding the bible. Those who do not know the meaning of the words that God said will attribute all kinds of things to him. They make him so absurd that they simply cannot believe in God. They think God promotes slavery, child cruelty, or even war. One atheist told me that the wars fought God’s named killed more people in the 20^th century than anything else. As the old saying goes, “Ignorant is bliss.” They do not know the history of the world, or the word of God.

 2. Some do not believe because they confuse the religion of a man with the existence of God. If a man does evil, that does not mean that God is not real.

3. Personal failure. Some experience moral or personal failures in their own lives and deny God rather than accept accountability for their behavior. Hey! If God doesn’t exist, then I don’t have to worry about answering to him.

4. Failure to study the evidence. Thousands of brilliant people have dedicated their lives to studying the evidence for the existence of God. There are many wonderful arguments for God’s existence, but many simply deny him without studying the evidence. No question in anyone’s life is more important than “is there a God.” Take time to study the question.

5. Feeling-based faith. It is dangerous to claim to believe that God is real, simply because you feel him in your heart. Feelings change, but God does not.

6 The dumbest reason of all to reject belief in God is that you cannot “see” him. Adam and Eve knew God personally, but they rejected God’s authority in their lives. Two thousand years ago, the Jews saw God’s son and they crucified him. Seeing is not always believing.

This is a very short list of why people claim to be atheists. If you ever struggle with this question, it is not a shame. It is a call for you to “Study to show yourself approved unto God.”

Lonnie Davis

Have you ever struggled with anxiety?
Then today’s Bible verse is for you.

Philippians 4:6
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God…”

Anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion. However, when a person regularly feels disproportionate levels of anxiety, it can become a medical disorder.

One Bible verse commonly used to help with anxiety is Philippians 4:6, which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Here are 2 observations about Philippians 4:6 that relate to anxiety.

First, It encourages the reader not to be anxious:
The verse begins by instructing the reader to “not be anxious about anything.” This is a clear and direct message to trust in God’s care and not let worries consume one’s thoughts.

When my children were teenagers and they would be late getting home. If I were not home, my wife would stay up and wait for them. She would call me and when I got home, she would go to bed. She knew I would watch for the child and see that things were okay. Her reasoning was that there was no point in both of us worrying about the same thing. I think that is God’s reasoning here. If we take our trouble to God and then fume and fret about it, we are wasting energy. God has it so let go and let God handle it. Don’t be anxious about anything.

Second, It emphasizes the power of prayer:
The verse says to present one’s requests to God through prayer and petition, indicating that prayer is an important tool in overcoming anxiety. Sometimes we might have a problem and say we have done all we could. Well, have you prayed about it? Until you have prayed about it, you haven’t done all you can. This is not to suggest that if you have the problem of an illness, you can just pray. Praying is not all we do, but it certainly is one thing we should do.

I call Philippians 4:6, “The Antidote for Anxiety.”

I know it is because the very next verse tells us so.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

There it is! True peace comes at the end of true prayer.

Lonnie Davis

Long, long ago, the army of Assyria brought all of her forces to surround and capture Elisha, the prophet of God. During the night the Assyrian army surrounded the house of Elisha. When the servant of Elisha woke up, he looked around the hills and saw the enemy. He didn’t know what to do, but Elisha did. He prayed.

“And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.  – 

2 Kings 6:17

In times of great stress, we all can suffer the problem of the young servant. We all can cry in fear instead of simply trusting God.

After Elisha’s prayer, the young servant saw, as the Scripture says, “The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

In other words, God’s help was already there, but he couldn’t see it.

The Servant wasn’t blind physically. He was blind spiritually. Elisha prayed that the servant would be able to see that God can handle anything.

Elisha wasn’t afraid of the army of men because he could see the army of God.

In this story we see the power of prayer. Elisha didn’t need time to reflect on his prayer. He didn’t need 7 days to build up to the prayer. He didn’t need two prayers. Elisha had lived his entire life talking to God, so that when he called on him, God answered immediately. 

It is interesting to note that Elisha was not praying for deliverance. This was a prayer of accommodation. Elisha prayed for God to accommodate the young servant so that he could see that God’s help was already there. God didn’t have to do it and the outcome would have been there anyway.

It was a prayer for a young man who needed to open his eyes and see God’s blessings.

There are many people who can see the Sun and the moon and the stars but who cannot see God in them. They have eyes but are spiritually blind. Our world has millions who cannot see the goodness or the blessings of God. They are spiritually blind.

Maybe they need this prayer from Elisha.

Lonnie Davis

As a kid, when I would get “kinda” sick, my mom would give me terrible-tasting medicine. I would hide it, run from it, and even say I had taken it when I hadn’t. Those are things I did “as a kid” and when I was “kinda” sick. 

As adults, when we sometimes face true sickness, we don’t run from our treatments. We take radiation and chemo treatments. We go into hospitals and take medicine every few hours. These don’t just taste bad; they are hard. We do them anyway.

Mark 2:1-12 the story about one occasion when Jesus was preaching and healing.  As  was he was preaching, four friends brought a paralyzed man to Jesus for him to heal. As they approached the house where Jesus was teaching, it became obvious there was no way for them to get in to see Jesus.

As they approached where Jesus was preaching, I wonder what the conversation was like. Maybe one of them said, ‘Well, we can’t get near Jesus, so let’s come back another day.” Of course that is not what they did. Maybe that thought never entered their mind. What they did was find a different way. The doors were blocked. The people were all around Jesus. Maybe Jesus was in the middle of telling one of his parables when he heard a pounding on the roof. Next, pieces of the roof began to fall on the people around Jesus. Finally, a man on a stretcher was lowered down by ropes right into the middle of the crowd.

The rest of the story tells about the amazing way Jesus healed the paralyzed man, but I want you to focus on the four friends who brought him to Jesus. 

They cared deeply about their paralyzed friend.

They cared enough to help.

They didn’t leave him with a “let me know If you need anything.”

When faced with a huge obstacle, they would not quit.

They simply would not let obstacles stop them. 

Sometimes life is hard, obstacles seem overwhelming. Winners don’t whine and quit. They looked for ways to overcome.

Some people find a way.

Some people find an excuse to quit trying.

I know because I have been on both sides of that fence, but only one side makes me happy. 

If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.

It is the behavior of faith.

Lonnie Davis

Classmates.com is a huge website that lets long-lost friends find each other. I guess before you sign up you should decide if you really want to find each other. After all, you don’t look like you used to.

 The other day I read the story of a lady who was going to a new dentist. While waiting for her first appointment in the reception room, she noticed his certificate, which had his full name. Suddenly, she remembered that a tall, handsome boy with the same name had been in her high school class some 30 years earlier. As soon as she saw him she knew it was not him.  She was sure that the balding, grey-haired dentist with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been her classmate. After he had examined her teeth, she asked him if he had attended the local high school. 

“Yes,” he replied. 

“When did you graduate?” she asked. 

He replied, “In 1971. Why?” 

“You were in my class!” she said. 

He looked at her closely and then asked, “What did you teach?”

Ouch!

There is a part of this story that I love. I love people who can enjoy life enough that they don’t feel as old as they really are. If we were more like these two, we would do better in life. There are three qualities about these two old friends that I would like to have:

1. They did not focus on what they didn’t have.
2. They did not focus on the negatives.
3. They did not see obstacles to a good life.

Okay, so they didn’t have youth. So what? They had the wisdom that comes with a lifetime of living. Maybe one of them didn’t have hair, but he had an education that caused others to call him Doctor. One of them was at a dentist, but at least she had teeth that the dentist could work on.

So many times when God closes one door for us, we stare at it and grieve so long that we never see the two doors that God has opened. I love God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11. “ ‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 

You must believe that God has good plans for you. Your joy depends on it!

Lonnie Davis

I was playing golf with two of my elders when about 30 minutes into the round a twosome of a middle-aged man and his twelve-year-old nephew walked up and joined our group. We didn’t know them, but it did not take long to learn about the man. After a few bad shots, he began to curse at his game. Though he didn’t know me, he learned that I was a minister. He acted embarrassed and said to me, “I’m sorry that I talked like that in front of you.”

I was bothered, but it was not his foul language that troubled me. I was bothered because 1) He was sorry about cursing in front of a grown man, but had no concern for how he behaved in front of his young nephew. 2) More than that, he gave no thought to the presence of the Lord. Perhaps he didn’t know the Lord was with us.

It was not the first time someone has apologized to me for cursing in my presence. Being a preacher does that to some folks. 

Some are careful to behave as a Christians while around other Christians, but are embarrassed when another Christ follower “catches them” acting or speaking in an unbecoming way.

Sadly, too many forget that even when they are alone, the Lord is always present. The Psalmist said, “Where can I go from You presence?” (Ps 139). Faithful Christians know there is no place where God is not. 

I wish that he had not apologized to me, but to his 12-year-old nephew. This is a good rule for life – whatever you do, remember that young eyes may be watching you. And, God’s eyes are always watching.

~Lonnie Davis

The Power of Pennies, or how small things turn into big things.

You’ve heard the old adage, “A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned?”

One penny? Really?  Yes!

Remember the question of Zechariah 4:10, “Who dares despise the day of small things?”

Some years ago I was counseling a family, who despite their good income, was always broke. I asked the father, “Can you save a dime out of every dollar?” Without hesitating, he responded with a firm “No.”

He was right! If a person is always broke, they are not saving a dime out of every dollar. The question did not ask if a dime can be saved, but rather “Can YOU save a dime?” He knew his story.

I changed the question and asked again. “Can you save one penny out of every dollar?” He quickly affirmed that he could.

The problem with that answer is that I knew the truth, but he did not. The correct answer is that he could NOT save a penny. If he could save even a penny, then he would not be in debt. If you take all you can earn and all you can borrow on credit cards and spend it, then you are broke. If you never learn to save a penny then you will live hand to mouth and die penniless.

Yes, a penny saved is a penny earned, because you will always start the next day of your life with one more penny that you didn’t have last yesterday.

This story works much better if you save a dime.

A man or woman who earns $40,000 dollars a year and saves a dime a dollar, will have $4,000 to start off the next year.

Many folks can’t do that. According to a 2021 survey, 58% of American families do not have $1,000 saved. Resolve to be better than that. Save a dime. If you can’t, then start with a penny.

Lonnie Davis

Somewhere I read, “If you would be successful, do the things that are hard and lonely.” Everyone can do fun things, social things, or easy things. Anyone can watch a football game with a friend or go to a movie with a special person. These things are fun and social for most of us. Doing them will bring us no lasting success. 

Few people are willing to do the hard things, the lonely things. Few people are willing to spend time alone memorizing math formulas so those who do are thought of as smart. Few people are willing to set up at night with the television off and memorize passages from God’s word. To get ahead in your job or any part of your life, be willing to do the hard and lonely things. The fact that they are hard will mean you will be lonely in doing them, but doing those things will set you apart from the crowd. Do not curse the hard circumstances, but rather relish them as opportunities for victory.

Abraham Lincoln was reared in poverty. It was hard, but he was willing to overcome it. Franklin D Roosevelt was a victim of polio. Beethoven, one of the true musical geniuses of the world, was completely deaf. Their problems, their almost impossible circumstances simply meant they must work harder. They did the work, the hard and lonely work. We will always remember them. Never give up just because something is hard. The fact that circumstances are hard is what allows your victory to be great.

In the 17th century Anne Bradstreet put it beautifully, “If we had no winter; the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

There is a blessing to be gained from overcoming hard days.

Lonnie Davis

The title of this article ought to capture your attention. We all carry stress. We hate stress. Even folks who claim they work better under stress, don’t wake up on vacation and say, “How can I build stress today? 

Stress is not the standard setting for a healthy life. It gives us high blood pressure. It causes us to fret.  It even causes comfort eating, which causes weight gain. Maybe America is fat because we carry so much stress.

So what is this “great stress reliever?” Is if the faithful following of Ecclesiastes 9:10

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”

This is not a text that simply exhorts us to be a diligent worker at our job. It is also about doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done. It is about fixing the broken places when you first find they are broken.

Sometimes we only fix urgent things. We treat things like a slow leak on a car tire. If we just put air in that slow-leaking tire, we won’t need to worry about it for another week or two. So – we air up the tire and kick the problem down the road. Then one day what could have been fixed at our own timing becomes an emergency on the side of the road while traffic is busy and people somewhere are waiting on us. This is a stress-inducing situation. It could have been avoided if only you had done “whatever your hand finds to do” with your might and good timing.

I am saying this, not just to you, but also to me.

Lonnie Davis

The story is told of a lady who worked as a maid for a rich family. It was Christmas time and all the rich folks got gifts. Gifts included: a new television for one, a car for another, and a Rolex watch for another. Getting such nice gifts should have made them happy, but all they did was gripe, i.e. wrong color or “not exactly what I wanted.”

The maid was troubled by this and finally spoke out. “I can’t believe you can be unhappy with those wonderful gifts.” Pausing, she finally added, “If I just had one hundred dollars, I would be the happiest person in the world.”

The rich man gave her one hundred dollars and said, “Okay, here is $100.”

Of course, the maid was happy. She took the hundred dollars, thanked them, and skipped out of the room. As she got out of sight, she put the money in her pocket and said, “I wish I had said two hundred.”

Now this is just a story, but you have probably seen or done much the same thing. Truthfully, many folks are never satisfied. If we put our house or car up for sale and it sells too quickly, we say, “I probably didn’t ask enough.” If we ask for a raise and get it, we fret that we should have asked for more.

The point of this story is to remind us not to allow ourselves to fall into this trap of thinking. It can and does bring discontentment and unhappiness. When you find yourself in this situation, check your heart. Are you just wishing you had said two hundred?

Most of all, remember Ecclesiastes 5:10. “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”

Contentment is not just a word. It is a skill. Learn it.

Lonnie Davis

Choosing Your Table

Today’s thought is one that I share so that my kids and my kids’ kids might remember it. I call it “Choosing your Table.”

I read the story of one young girl who announced her lofty life ambitions to her family. One by one the family members laughed at her improbable dreams but when she told her grandfather he had true words of wisdom. 

He said, “Life is like a big casino with many different gambling tables. There are $5 tables, $50 tables, and $1,000 tables. If you choose a $5 table and win big you will not do as well as if you win big at a $1,000 table. Your success depends on the table you choose.”

One thing we should take from this is not to be envious of the one who chose a higher stake than you. It was your choice. Always set your dreams high, you cannot reach if you never try. 

As you start your day, you should pray with the Psalmist: 

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” Psalms 20:4

Of course, as you set your dreams and goals you must always remember 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Lonnie Davis

The story is told of one man who was called to bail his son out of jail. As he left for the jail, a nosey neighbor said, “If he were my kid, I’d leave him in jail.” The father answered, “If he were your kid, I’d leave him in jail too.”

One of the curses of being the oldest child is having kids before your siblings and listening to them tell you how to raise your child. You hear famous words like, “When I have kids, they will not…” One of the joys of being the oldest child is watching your younger siblings have children and seeing those children do exactly what their parents said they would never do. It is easier to discipline and control other people’s children better than you can your own.

To understand the principle behind this, one must read 1 Peter 4:8, “Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. To be able to look past others’ faults, love them deeply. ”My kid’s sins are not as bad as yours kids sins, because I love my kids and “love covers a multitude of sins.” It is the way of love to look past faults and imperfections.

Mothers and fathers succeed or fail as parents because of this principle. Without this principle, the imperfections of those with whom we live nearly 24-7 become so glaring that the faults will drown out the good.

Husbands and wives succeed or fail as life-mates because of this love principle. Without this principle of love, the wonder of marriage changes to “I wonder what went wrong.”

Look one more time at that great text, 1 Peter 4:8, “Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.”Now read it again and this time stop after the word “covers.” It now reads “Love each other deeply, because love covers…” Yes, it does. Love covers…whatever. That is the secret of living together in happiness. That is the principle of “love covers.”

Lonnie Davis

A father’s life is full of surprises. The other day I read the story of a father who walked up on his son and his dog. The dog, a full-grown Labrador named Kelly and the four-year-old boy named Josh had a wonderful relationship. Though the dog and the boy loved each other, the dog often had to put up with the boy. Josh loved to hug the dog. Kelly would take as much as he could, but would invariably turn around and nip at the boy to make him turn loose.

One day the father walked up just as Josh had Kelly in one of his big hugs. He had his arms around the dog and his head tucked into the dog’s body so that Kelly could not bite him so easily. As Dad walked by he noticed that Josh’s eyes were closed and heard him say a little prayer, “Dear God, please don’t let Kelly bite me.”

It was cute but the dad could not miss a chance to teach a lesson about prayer. “Josh,” the father said, “God would be more apt to answer your prayer if you would let go of the dog.”

We too are like the little boy holding on to the dog that he knows will bite him and praying that the dog won’t bite. We do things that will bite us, but don’t want to feel the bite. What do we do to stop the biting? We pray. I am all for prayer. It is the greatest thing in the world, but usually the answer is prayer plus something else. That something else is to stop doing the thing that is going to bring us pain.

We pray for a happy marriage and then neglect one another. We pray for peace and live life at a frantic pace.

On and on the list could go. Each of us should examine the things that we pray for and then decide what we can do to help make the prayers come true. Keep on praying, but do your part too.

Lonnie Davis

It was a Sunday morning. As I was getting ready for church, out of the corner of my eye I saw something red flying in my bedroom. I looked again and caught a quick glimpse of a wasp. I am a waspaphobic (I made up the word, but it is a fear of being stung by wasps). I quickly grabbed something with which to kill the wasp. Turning my head for just a minute allowing the wasp to disappear from sight. I closed the door and began my hunt. Nothing!

As it was getting time to go to church I was sure to keep the door closed when I left. Sunday afternoon was dedicated to a wasp hunt. Nothing! My wife even hunted him a time or two. Nothing! A few hours later and it was time for bed. With great trepidation I crawled into bed.

How does one sleep with a wasp in the room? The answer is “lightly.” When I did not see the wasp for two days and soon convinced myself that he went out of the house the same way he came into it. Tuesday morning at 2 AM I woke up and saw him back in my room. Just as quickly as he came, he disappeared again. I sat on the edge of the bed holding a fly swatter until 3 AM. It wasn’t until Friday that I saw and killed him. There was peace in my house again.

So, where did this wasp come from? Here is the answer: While I was gone on a vacation, the top part of my upstairs window, slide down a couple of inches. It was not noticeable, but someone pointed it out. When I saw the problem, I fixed it. In this story, I learned the three-step method for fixing problems.

1. Discover the source of the problem. You can find it yourself or get someone who sees it more clearly than you, but you have to find the source before you can fix it.

2. Fix the problem. Knowing the window was open won’t help unless I shut the window.

3. Clean out the consequences. I made sure there were no more wasps in the house.

Problem solved! Of course, it could come back, but this process works.

Discover, fix, and clean.  It is a process that works on just about any problem.

~Lonnie Davis

May 15, 2011

Years ago a farmer advertised for hired hands. 

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him. Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work. Then one night the wind howled loudly. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters.

He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!” The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. 

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

What is the lesson we should learn? Here it is: The storm will come!

Do your work in such a way that when the storm comes, you can still sleep.