Yesterday Isn’t Soon Enough

I’m amazed how one person will come along at the right time with one word that will re-direct and change us. Many times we’re not there emotionally to take a well-meaning friend’s advice. We really don’t want their advice. We want to talk about the problem. Sometimes we’re so stuck we can’t move, but it’s what we need to hear. Then one day we take the advice, and wish we had used it sooner. We realize, yesterday isn’t soon enough.

I passed some thoughts along to a couple of people this week. They all seemed to need it, but its up to them to filter it though and know if it’s good advice for them. One thing I passed along was something given to me by a friend in 1986. I’ve never forgotten it. I was in an art business relationship with another person. We were both movers and shakers and it felt like a perfect match. We met one another selling art for a national Art company and decided to go into business for ourselves.

Not too soon into the business, I realized we didn’t operate the same way. Our standards were different in the way we handled money and the way we worked. The partnership wasn’t going to last. It was a matter of time before it would collapse.

To get out was going to be hard. A client said to me at the time, “It’s like a divorce, yesterday isn’t soon enough.” I took his advice. It’s what I needed to hear. It saved me a lot of un-needed pain. Sometimes we are trapped and someone sheds new light so we can move forward.

Another friend said to me, “Don’t confuse pride with honor.” I passed this advice on to someone who said to me, “It’s the honorable thing to do.” It sounded right, until I remembered the nugget of truth I heard from my friend who stayed in business when he needed to get out. He owed everyone and spiraled downward into further debt. He learned a valuable lesson. Years later he’s still recovering from a financial debt. Today, he sees his judgment call was out of pride. Yesterday he saw it as honor.

All this advice is tailored made for the right person at the right time. When My Sweet Al and I decided to get married, several people gave their advice and said it wouldn’t last. We got married anyway. Into the marriage after ten years, friends said we should throw in the towel, but here we are. After thirty years, we decided to call a truce and not try to fix each other. Now at fifty-six years into this marriage, it seems to be working. I think we’ve got a good chance of making it if Al will just behave himself.

My daughter called from California this week. She said, “You were right. Truth is like a rock in your shoe. It hurts until you do something about it. I used your advice and did something about a situation. I feel free and have so much peace.” Wow! My child heard me? She took my advice.

I learned a word in Greek, which I’ve shared with several people. The Bible says it’s impossible but offenses will come. The word offenses, in the Greek, means skandalon. It’s where we get the word scandal.

Skandalon is a piece of wood, which holds up a trapdoor and comes down when a creature hits it and is trapped inside.

I wondered how many times we’ve used our words and unsolicited advice to help someone, but instead hit the piece of wood and trapped them inside their situation. What we thought was good advice was scandalous for them. They are captured by something we said.

Final Brushstroke! We’ve got to be careful not to trap others with our words. On the flip side, a word fitly spoken can open a door and set someone free. I don’t think we are wise enough to know how our words are affecting someone else. It’s got to be a God thing. We need to have the wisdom from above to know the difference.