Captain Obvious, to You, Sir

"I broke up with my girlfriend, again." He said it so sadly I knew it must be worse than usual. Seven years of breaking up with her has got to have taken its toll. I stole a look at him from the examining table. Sometimes my doctor can be very absentminded and I was hoping it wasn't so today. Sure enough, he was wearing the same thing as yesterday, and the same button that he had missed yesterday, was still unbuttoned.

"Hard night?" I asked him.
"Not too bad. Its the mornings that are bad." He chuckled. "I got kicked out. I told the family I was staying with that I was tired of what they cook for dinner. It is possible to have hot turkey sandwiches too often."
I sighed.

How is it that some people have no idea what will definitely get them into trouble? It is easy to look into the lives of others and wince before they make the stupid leap. But how often do I sensibly step back before I make the same leap, only in my version? How do we avoid dumb decisions?

• Proverbs 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

This is where we define two very different words often offered as synonyms to each other.

counsel is "to exchange advice, ideas, or opinions; deliberate; consult."
advice is "an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct."

We can receive "advice," but we can seek "counsel." Who is your safety net of counsellors and do you seek them out? Or, wait. Do you take counsel...with your self? Remember, we're only Captain Obvious with other people's faults.

• Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

A safe place of rest is ready and waiting, under one condition. Just come, and He takes care of the rest. In the place of true abiding we find a place of true rest.

• Psalms 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

I'm not sure I could put it more simply. Love God and hate evil = God preserves you and delivers you. Bungee jumping with your brain and sense is actually less fun than doing it with your body. Hang tight to the Rock, because if you jump into folly, its mostly just a profound "tsk. tsk." from the top.

• Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

And I couldn't pass up posting my current favorite verse. Passing up the Problem to focus on the Solver, actually brings the Solution. Imagine that.


Hello. Now you can be Captain Obvious to yourself. I won't say anymore on this because apparently, the rest "is plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge." (Check out Proverbs 8.)