A Lesson From A Nut (no, not me...!!!)

That's a hickory nut-in case you aren't well educated on all things nuts like we are in this house. It's hard to tell by the picture, but those things are huge. They can easily cause you to lose your footing and land flat on your hiney as you casually stroll across your front yard. They can also fully convince you that an army of rebels is plowing through your roof as they fall from the trees. Not that I know either of those things from experience. Ahem. 

That's right, this is a God blog. Let me take that little white lie back. I know BOTH those things from experience. Multiple times. 

They are everywhere in our yard right now. Trampoline, driveway, grassy land, wooded area, gutters, ditch, walkway, doorstep, you name it-hickory nuts are there. 

They make the loudest noise you've ever heard when they fall and we are constantly noting how much it would hurt if one hit us on our head on it's way down. 

Just last week, I was jumping on the trampoline with my boys, as I do almost daily just having a good ole time when suddenly one of those hickory nuts hit me smack dab in the middle of my forehead. It hurt. It came with momentum and timed it's landing perfectly between my two eyes. It felt like an evil force of nature had carefully and strategically plotted against me to land one lonely nut amongst it's cousin nuts who were, in that very moment, getting the bounce of their lifetime on the trampoline beneath my feet. 

Only it wasn't an evil force of nature. And it wasn't a newly fallen nut. It was an old nut, rescued from the popcorn machine that was our trampoline, by mid-sized   hands which pelted it into the air directly toward my face. 

That would be Walker, in case I lost you in that incredibly long and richly descriptive sentence. :)

I. Was. So. Mad. 

That mess hurt. Suddenly I was very aware of all of those conversations throughout the years of us imagining what it would feel like if a fallen hickory nut landed on our head. No longer did I have to wonder, for I knew. 

It. Hurt. So. So. Bad. 

Did I mention I was mad?  

It took every ounce of inner strength and dignity I had not to pick one up and chunk it right back at him, square in his forehead. Thankfully I didn't, otherwise I would still be wallowing in mommy guilt, and let's be honest-who really needs any more of that than what we already carry? 

Instead, I cringed and yelped and threw my hands to my face, and maybe over exaggerated how bad it hurt to elicit a little extra sympathy. And I pouted. That reaction is so much better, right? :) (that's right folks, I climbed off the trampoline and proclaimed "I'm not playing anymore!") 

In the moment, this reaction seemed much better than what I really wanted to do. 

Meanwhile, my seven year old who did feel genuinely, sorry was apologizing away and this mama was making him work for it. "I only meant to hit your shoulder mom..."   

So much more comforting in that moment, let me tell you. "I only meant to hit your shoulder."  Much more acceptable. 

But as the day went on, I started pondering my initial reaction. While I may not have fought back physically, I did fight back with my attitude and words in the few minutes that followed. I wanted him to know it hurt me and I wasn't happy about it. I accepted his sweet apology, but followed up with "but if you hadn't blah blah blah blah..." 

As my frustration settled a little, I started thinking of Jesus and how He reacted when he was persecuted, beaten, condemned, talked about, made fun of, torn down, and treated down right ugly. To my knowledge, he never had a hickory nut thrown at him by a small boy, but the pains that were inflicted on Him, I can't even begin to imagine. 

He didn't react. He never defended himself. He didn't fight back, not with actions nor words. He didn't intentionally show with his attitude that he was upset to make a point, he didn't use his words to gain sympathy or inflict guilt on others. He simply took it. All of it. Never once did he condemn others or exchange hurt for hurt. 

Because of his merciful reactions, time after time, those around Him were able to see that He was indeed the light in a dark world.  He was God's son, born of a virgin, to accept without exception, love unconditionally, offer grace and forgiveness and even die for the very ones who had and would eventually hurt Him in unimaginable ways. 

How often do we just miss this? How many times do we have to fire back in our relationships with that spiteful comment, that annoyed glance, that reminder of a wrong that should be long forgotten? 

What would happen if instead, we just took it sometimes, turning the other cheek and offering love when everything inside of us may be pining for revenge? Maybe then, in those most difficult and hurtful moments, those around us would see Jesus living in us-the Light in this dark world. The ultimate act of forgiveness offered to them, an open invitation to choose love. 

Ephesians 4:32 

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.