There are things in life that should be taken slowly. Mowing is one of those things. Some of my favorite things to do on the farm are brush hogging and mowing. You get instant gratification, time alone to just consider life and necessary work gets done. One thing I love about being on the tractor or mower is the slowness of it. Life is fast. There is always something to do and somewhere to be. Mowing provides a respite against that. Our old mower did not go fast. If you wanted it to cut -sorta kinda even – you had to piddle along slowly. The steering was a bit wonky so it didn’t turn well. Honestly, it really had seen better days.
Change isn’t something that comes easy for me. Replacing something that works “well enough” is not in my nature. Hence my car is a 1998 Blazer and our refrigerator was bought in the mid 90’s. But, deep down I knew, it was time. For a couple of years Kelly has thrown out the idea we should start looking and my reply has been silence. Not ready. Ours worked fine. Last week he mentioned that he had stopped to look and see what was available. Silence. After mulling it over for a few days I suggested we go see what exactly it was he had looked at.
The new mower was delivered yesterday. To be honest the real issue is this, I like simple and basic. A mower with a steering wheel is all I wanted. But, we have a big yard with lots of trees. Kelly felt a zero turn was the right call for our needs. Faster, more efficient, faster……Today we cranked it up, took it out of the shop, crossed the cattle guard into the yard and off I went “to practice.” It’s fast. There’s definitely going to be a learning curve. Regardless of how low it is throttled down there will be no more “piddling” around the yard in a mower that is only half doing its’ job. I’m going to really miss my mower. It really was “good enough.”
And therein lies the rub. How often do we plod along doing “good enough” because we don’t want to change? We get comfortable doing what needs to be done at a pace that requires no real thought or focus – we go through the motions. We check the boxes. We become complacent.
Exodus 3&4 is the story of God speaking to Moses through the burning bush. God shares with Moses His plan for the future. Moses is told how he will lead Gods’ people out of slavery into the Promised Land, but Moses doesn’t like that plan. He makes excuses. He is comfortable. He is content tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, safe from the danger he faced from Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-21).
Moses was doing “good enough.” He was not looking for change and he certainly wasn’t looking for a challenge. And the excuses flowed freely,
“Who am I that I should got to Pharaoh?” (3:11)
God’s answer: “I will be with you.” (3:12)
“If they ask me your name, what shall I say?” (3:13)
God’s answer: “I am who I am.” (3:14)
“They won’t believe me or listen to my voice.” (4:1)
God’s answer: “The Lord, The God of their fathers…has appeared to you.” (4:5)
“I’m not eloquent, I am slow of speech and tongue.” (4:10)
God’s answer: “I will be with your mouth and teach you what to speak.” (4:12)
“Please send someone else.” (4:13)
God’s answer: “Is there not Aaron your brother? I will teach you both what to do.” (4:14-15)
Moses finally relented. All it took was a burning bush, a couple of miracles and lots of promises. Comfort is a hard thing to let go of. Plodding along through life keeps you off the radar, out of trouble, and requires little real thought or commitment. Plodding along through life will get the job done “good enough.” But we are called to BE so much more. We are called to DO so much more. “Good enough” really isn’t.
“…live a life worthy of the calling you have received”….”you are a chosen people, God’s special possession” Ephesians 4:1, 1 Peter 2:9
listen to His Voice,
lee ann
