LEAVE IT OUTSIDE

"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." - Theodore Roosevelt 

Leave it Outside

A man hired a carpenter to help restore an old farmhouse, he had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While he was being driven home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited his contractor in to meet his family. As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. After opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His face was wreathed in smiles. He hugged his two children and gave his wife a kiss. As he walked his contractor back to the car, they passed the tree, again so the contractor asked him about what he'd seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that’s my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing is for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again."
"Funny thing is, he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."
Many times, we find ourselves in situations and circumstances that we have no business being in at all--all for lack of wisdom. Jesus Christ said, "...let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." Don't attempt to create additional troubles than life will prepare for you. Most are ignorant of how to separate career issues from family, and marital issues. We tend to burden our relationships by misappropriating priorities and problems.

It is important to consider the way the carpenter chose to deal with his problems. What do you think he accomplished by leaving his troubles outside of his home? There are many troubles we should leave outside our homes daily. God has blessed us with many good things that we shouldn't destroy by heaping our problems from work on. Know where to draw the line. The devil doesn't have any more strength than we give hm. Jesus is ready to take your burdens, if you will only let Him. Life s beautiful, enjoy it to the fullest. Shalom!