We spend too much time down in the weeds of life
Most have heard of the age-old axiom that states, “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” Essentially this means that you can’t see the big picture when you are focusing only on the small things. One must step away from it in order to see the larger picture of what is going on. In life, we become so focused on the small things around us that at times we forget to look at the larger picture of what is really happening around us. Life is like that for many of us. We become so addicted to our habits that we refuse to look outside of the things that we always do in a certain way. That is usually how you were trained to do things from childhood. Even how you think is usually the result of how you were taught to rationalize things.
I used to walk up in the mountains around my home where there were countless trails going throughout the bush. Most of these trails were initially caused by animals that use familiar travel patterns each day as they go about hunting for food. After years of taking the same trails, it becomes a well-worn path that people use. Once we take over the path it widens and it becomes the path that most of us use for our daily walk routines. Very seldom do we venture off the well-worn trails because of safety and habit. We are very habitual creatures by nature. Once we’re set on doing things a certain way it becomes our modus operandi, the mode of operation for us. But, it is when we focus so much on the small habitual things in life that it becomes our modus operandi that you seldom break.
There was a book year’s back entitles, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” It was a very popular book because most of us are guilty of this. People get stuck down in the minutiae of things so deep that they become overburdened by the small stuff. In order to break such self-defeating habits, one must rise above them and look at the big picture. Again, this is part of our ordinary nature. For those of you who fly often you look down on the earth below and can see miles around you covering such a wide geographic area. It looks like viewing down on an ant colony. Now that is the big picture but perhaps a bit too wide of a view to getting a clear perspective.
Even though we do not wish to become focused only on the small stuff, we do want to see things so we can react to them. At the same time, we want to see far enough ahead of us so we can plan ourselves accordingly. Average people split the difference. Highly successful people live up in the upper ethos of planning ahead. And there are those who spend too much time down in the weeds. This is the subject that I wish to talk about. Now that we have expanded our minds to think big I want to talk about this very small stuff that I call “spending too much time down in the weeds of life.”
What is down there in the weeds of humanity… the very small stuff that so many of us get hung up on? Several things that are considered “in the weeds” are mentioned in the bible as well. In a letter to the believers of Galatia Paul described these as the desires of our flesh. These would be the sorts of things that distract us in life from reaching our full potentials as productive fellow human beings. They focus only upon selfish gains for immediate gratification and yes they usually are the small petty things as well. Paul listed a few such things but it is not a scientific list, nor is it a complete list of such things.
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery; idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like.” Galatians 5:19–21
Many of these are deeper than I wish to speak about here because there are certain weeds that are more dangerous if one should become stuck that low. Sexual immorality, orgies, idolatry, impurity, witchcraft and the like would take us into sin-categories for further discussion into the very deep weeds. If such things would become a habit then they would lead to the certain destruction of the immortal soul. However I would like to discuss the low hanging category that most of us seem to dabble among such as hatred, envy, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and the like. These annoying things cross our paths like an annoying insect flying around your face. They should be relatively easy to correct once you rise above the weeds and come back to your senses so they do not become habits.
Anger is one such inhabitant of the weeds we enter. When we become angry it could lead to all sorts of bad behaviors. If not careful it could lead to violent activities causing harm or even death of others. This is obviously an act of the flesh because it affects your total being. You become overburdened by the emotion to the point that you lose self-control. Needless to say when you are not in control of yourself you have no idea what might happen. It is like an automobile spinning out of control with no one behind the wheel. Anything could happen and most of the possibilities are not good. When we allow people or circumstances to take us into the deep weeds we need to take a pause, re-gather ourselves in order to regain control over our emotions. Once you rise above the weeds common sense will usually tell you that you are reacting badly. Therefore anger is definitely a tenant of the deep weeds that we would like to keep at bay.
Jealousy and envy are cousins that hang out in the weeds. When you see others that have things that you want or that have more than you have, there is a tendency to want what they have. Just wanting more things is not a problem but when it gets to the point that you actually cast disbursing thoughts on others it enrages emotions that are not healthy. If you allow such thoughts to fester they could also turn into hatred, which could also corrupt the soul and alter your character. Jealousy and envy could attract hatred, spite; fits of rage, factions, discord and the like. Hanging out in such weeds could be dangerous for anyone. Like anger, we should not allow ourselves to be overburdened by any emotion to the point that we lose self-control.
Selfish ambitions could be a double-edged tenant of the weeds. It is not bad to want to improve upon your standings, to acquire things, accomplish goals and the like but when done at the expense of others, it could lead to a habit of doing things only for the self no matter who might be hurt in the process. Again, if you see yourself sinking lower into the weeds you need to take a pause, rise above the weeds, use your common sense and shake off such negative behavior. If you spend too much time in the weeds they will take hold over you and change your character to the point that it corrupts your immortal soul. This is not becoming of a person of good character and shouldn’t be accepted as your own.
I was speaking with a dear friend about this and it came to me that such things as I just described seem to run in packs like a wolf pack or other canine packs on the hunt. They feed off each other and work as a team to take down their prey. Anger pulls in hatred, factions, discord, fits of rage, dissensions, spite, envy and soon you have an entire pack of canines doing what they do best, take down the prey. The prey, in this case, is the self. It is selfish ambitions that could cause you to think only of the self and not for the benefit of others. Such behavior should not be. Certainly not by people who consider themselves to be godly in character.
I use these simple analogies to say, we spend too much time down in the weeds of life and that ought not to be for obvious reasons. If you find yourself down there you have to rise up above the tree line so you can see the forest. You have to stop looking only at the small things so you can see the big picture. You actually have to take control of the things that you allow to take control of you. If you spend too much time in the weeds of life it most definitely will overcome your immortal soul and that ought not to be allowed to happen. Rather than dazzle you with scripture here I appeal to your common knowledge. Do not spend too much time in the deep weeds of life. You are better than that! Selah!!!
