Some people have problems that are painfully obvious to those around them. We often try to mask our problems as we come into contact with others, and even from ourselves. Perhaps we are no more conscious of our failings as when we are trying to woo the one we have come to love. A humorous story was told about a man who had terribly smelly feet. No matter what he did - change his socks every day, wash and scrub, change his shoes and use powders and perfumes - his feet simply stunk. He found the love of his life - but she had halitosis. Her breath was so bad that she went as far as to try industrial strength mouthwash. Brushing her teeth, using perfumes, putting her hand over her mouth when she spoke and anything else she tried just did not hide the problem. The two of them had "double trouble." But love is a very strong and powerful force. Love won out and they were married. As her new husband was carrying her over the threshold on their wedding night, she whispered: "There's something I have to tell you." To which he replied: "I already know - you don't have to tell me - you ate my socks - right?"
Troubles come to all of us at some time in our lives. Job said: "life was short and full of trouble" (Job 14:1), Not everyone experiences the same kind of troubles or the same degree of difficulty in life. Far too often, though, we compound our troubles by the manner in which we choose to react. We sometimes make them worse. Some people try to drown their troubles with alcohol - only to find out that those troubles have merely learned how to swim. The "solution" simply doubled the trouble that was already there. We can think of marriage problems, financial troubles, job concerns or some deep personal hurts we may feel. Getting drunk has never solved a single problem. We may have convinced ourselves that we have at least had a reprieve or rest from our difficulties - but in reality we have only added another problem or set of problems. We may have doubled our trouble by our actions.
King Saul of Israel was in a lot of trouble because of his attitude. He lacked patience and respect toward God - he added to that problem by going ahead with sacrifices that were not his prerogative and was completely rejected by God (I Sam. 13:13,14). The story of that kind of reaction goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve hid from God and tried to excuse themselves - rather that beg for forgiveness and admit their first fault. Cain was in a lot of trouble for his attitude towards giving sacrifices to God and his resentment of Abel. He compounded the problem by killing Abel and not doing as God asked. Cain could have corrected his problem by repenting to God and giving a better sacrifice. God told Cain that he could be accepted (Gen. 4:7). Cain's trouble could have come to a quick and painless ending - but he opted for double trouble. Many people have that kind of attitude. Rather than admitting we were wrong and busying ourselves to correct the situation, we do something stupid and make it worse. If it were not so painful, it would be laughable. An old saying is: "we cut off our nose to spite our face." That can be explained by understanding that there may be something wrong with our face - or something we do not like or find attractive, so we cut off our nose --- and that of course makes matters far worse.
We may have some personal examples in our lives in which we added to our woes by some foolish deed. We no doubt know a few people who have also made decisions that have led to more concerns. I can recall the time that my brother and I broke Jenkin Jones' window. We were playing a game outside in which we hit a widget with a stick and competed for distance and frequency. When the window shattered, we both ran and hid behind the corner of the house. Our mother went over, explained, and gave restitution for the window, and our dad later replaced the window pane. We were too embarrassed or should I say scared. We ran and hid, when we ought to have gone and apologized to Mrs. Jones. Now we had caused a problem for our dad, did some damage to our own character by showing fear and cowardice as well as trying to avoid a responsibility. On the bright side, I have never forgotten the lesson learned. No double trouble from that episode.
Learning lessons from our mistakes is what develops us into mature, wise and successful people. With the help of loving and wise parents, those lessons are learned and we benefit. In some cases the lessons we have ignored have been very costly. What is extremely sad is the result we sometimes see of people who refuse to see the potential of danger that lies in their deeds - and do not change their thinking. An example of such a dilemma is in the true experience of a young family man who loved to drive his snow-mobile up the side of a mountain as high as possible and then make a quick turn and come roaring down. He and his friend were doing that and triggered an avalanche. His friend was killed, but he survived. Several months later he too was killed "doing what he loved." That excuse seems to mollify people - but it is merely a sign of a person who ignores lessons that are so devastating that many suffer. There a number of examples that fit the mold. Obesity and smoking are patterns of life that endanger our health and wellness. I read about the smoker who was feeling guilty about his bad habit. He had read about the danger on each package of cigarettes and he had read many books with "how to quit" themes. The more he read, the guiltier he felt - so he gave up reading. Obesity robs us of much of the enjoyment in life. We may justify our actions by saying: "but I love to eat." Still, the problems caused by obesity rob us of mobility, agility, attractiveness, and eventually the ability to enjoy what we eat. We may have an eating disorder, but ignoring it brings about compulsiveness and adds to the bad habits of thought and action we have developed. We add to our troubles when we do not face and tackle them. They only grow larger as we "feed" the monster within us. The same principle applies to alcoholism, greed, immorality, pursuit of beauty or what is considered good looks and so on. Initially they are small monsters that can easily be overcome in most cases - but they can grow into huge, frightening and controling patterns in our lives. Habits take time to form - be they good habits or bad ones.
I recently watched a little part of the play at a golf classic in which a well know pro was not doing well. As I watched, the commentator was explaining how this well-known golfing professional's coach had been working to correct a little flaw that had developed in the swing of this pro. Bad habits begin small and are hardly noticeable, but if left and ignored, they continue to grow, dominate and shape our lives. The writer Samuel Johnson once said: "The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." In some cases we have put off getting a checkup on a health problem we sort of know we have - until it is too late to do something about it. Then we have big trouble.
Somehow we compound our mistakes. It does not cease to amaze me to see how readily and easily bad habits are developed - and how difficult it is to cultivate and develop good habit. Why is that? I have no concrete answer, but it seems almost everything in our lives is in a constant state of flux. When things are not "fixed" they change and if we do not frequently monitor the changes, they will grow up and bite us. They can grow out of control - so we lapse into the routine or practice of having a problem, ignoring it, and then finding out that we really have not ignored it at all - we have been feeding the monster and it has taken over our lives. What was double trouble has been compounded into much more than what we thought it was. Do you have a little bad habit or baby monster you have been feeding - knowingly or not? Have you opened your closet door lately - how is the monster inside doing? Is it still small - or have you become afraid to open the door at all? Some of us have more than one door - we may have a zoo if we are not willing to handle the little things before they grow up to be big.