Unfortunately, over the past month I have gotten multiple speeding tickets, which has broken my ‘good driving’ record of untold years. I often travel for work and must go into areas that are not familiar to me, and this is where I have the most difficulty. Even with the trusty rusty GPS on, which shows me the speed limit on the road that I am currently driving on, and is quite a marvelous invention, I still fail to always get it right, and it is in those moments that coincide with a friendly officer of the law, where the ticket comes in. I have always been under the impression that you could go a little over the speed limit and still be okay, such as 60 mph in a 55 mph zone, however, according to the current driving school curriculum that I was privileged to be privy to recently, if you are one mile over, you are breaking the law, and the cop has the right to pull you over and give you a fine, and we are not talking just a couple of dollars either. They are really raking in the dough! I have learned that on certain highways, they take full advantage of these laws, to bring in revenue for their counties. Goodness gracious! Then you have the cameras and radars taking pictures in certain areas as well and yes, you guessed it, they got me! I just feel annoyed to have to pay hard earned money on these, when clearly, I am a good driver and not being reckless in any sense of the word. However, I did break the law. Of course, the object of all of this is for people to learn their lesson, slow down and not break the law. Old habits do die hard.
Well, I have tried to do my part and slow down, but not too long after I received all these tickets, one day, minding my own business, going the speed limit, that was 30 miles an hour, in a rural area, I read the sign that appeared on the side of the road, that stated there was a 35 mph curve ahead. My first thought was, ‘aren’t we in a 30 mph zone’? Even if you could make it around this curve at 35 mph, you would be breaking the law because you would be exceeding the speed limit. I thought that was the craziest thing I had seen in a while, annoying and a head scratcher for sure. There are so many things in this world that just do not make much sense anymore, and that was surely one of them. There are days I feel that ‘Common Sense’ has died and been put in a grave six foot under, never to be exhumed. People cannot figure out things that used to be plain ole ‘horse sense,’ as they called it in the good old days, they cannot even find their way out of a wet paper sack anymore. The person putting up the sign should have known that it was incorrect, however, even if they did, they did not care, and put it up anyway, just to get their job done and go on to the house. Well, that is another subject for another article.
So many people cannot think abstractly anymore or even attempt to understand things before they speak or act. They do not know or take the time to know the ‘why’ of the things they do. I am a baker, burger flipper, firefighter, candlestick maker, etc., just because that is what everyone in my family was or is. They do things just because, without rhyme or reason, and could never explain why in a million years. This is where the answer to our children’s questions become, “Because I told you so.” Because we have always done things this way, we feel anyone else who does not follow suit is doing it wrong. This is a headscratcher to me. I propose that if you cannot explain the why, then you should rethink your answer. The scripture tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The scripture is filled with principles we need to live by; not exact lists of dos and don’ts for every situation we will face, therefore, we must know how to decern what is a ‘do’ and a ‘don’t’ by studying the principles and learning the nature of God. If you do not know the whys and wherefores, you would have to just stay in the house to remain holy before the Lord, because you will not know what to do or not do. We must know how to be led by the Spirit. It is said that if you see a ‘therefore’ in scripture, you need to find out what it is there for.
What we did yesterday will not be the same as the circumstances and issues we will face today. We will come across head scratchers in our lives like the 35 mph curve sign in a 30 mph zone, and we will have to make the right decision in the moment. Though the same principles apply to various situations and actions, the way we go about achieving things one day may differ from the next. You may be dealing with different people, for instance, the scripture states in 1 Corinthians 8:8-12, “But meat commends us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.” So, though you might have not been sinning in your own action, your actions could become a sin to you, if you have caused a weaker brother to stumble. These are things we need to be able to decern in the moment.
I went into the store not too long ago to buy hairspray, which I normally would not spend a whole lot on, but because the label on a particular can caught my attention, I was considering buying it, though it was a little pricy. However, when I looked closer, there was a big warning sign, on the metal, not on a label that could be pealed off, which said boldly, “Do not use around flammable substances.” The head scratcher for me was, they had gone to so much trouble to make their product look so desirable but did not put this eyesore of a warning on a disposable paper or tape. It clearly ruined the entire design. Honestly, the warnings on items these days are things that should be self-explanatory, however, with common sense hiding its pretty head, understandably they must include them for liability’s sake. But it sure is a head scratcher.
Men are relied upon to put things together. They are stronger physically, and though not always, often have more mechanical intuitiveness than women do. (I speak for myself of course.) But a very well known head scratcher is that they refuse to read the instructions that have come with the item, ninety-nine percent of the time. If they decide to read them, it is after struggling with the items for who knows how long, and they are exasperated and tired of fooling with it. Another head scratcher we find with men are that they will not ask directions. They will not look at a map or often will not use the wonderful invention called the GPS, even when they are so frustrated and aggravated that they just want to turn around and go back home. After hours of working with a gadget, they think, “Oh, I should have read the instructions,” or when they have already gone out of their way, they decide to use the GPS. A lot of this is of course just a difference in how men and women think, and they would probably have a multiplicity of head scratcher stories to tell about us as well. Proverbs 4:1-5 tells us, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17 tells us, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Men and women alike, need to heed these warnings, and read all biblical instructions. This is our life’s manual, and we will not get things right on our own.
Another thing that has been a head scratcher to me over the years is why someone would live ten minutes from a church that preaches truth, but choose to drive over an hour to attend another church? Of course, notwithstanding the pastor believes the same, is of the same faith and preaches the same doctrine that the other one does. They often cannot make it to church because of the distance, the coordination of their day and jobs, the kids’ activities, and just life in general. I will admit there are some things that just do not make sense. A similar headscratcher occurs in my current job situation. Within our team, we have those in West, Middle and East Tennessee. They will send folks from the East and Middle areas to do a job in West Tennessee, when you have two team members doing nothing right there in their back yard. No explanation offered, time, travel and accommodation paid, for those who do the job, when there would have been no extra expense for those in the area to do the job. This all seems crazy to me. Some things are not worth spending the brain power on trying to figure them out. Oh, Common Sense where art thou!
My husband is always mentioning something that is a head scratcher to him, and that is when folks on the highway speed up when you begin to pass them. If they pass you, they then slow down when they get in front of you, when they should have just stayed behind you in the first place. My GPS gave me a head scratching moment today when it veered me off the highway down winding country roads, only to bring me back fifteen minutes later to the same highway I had been on. It did not make any sense, but thankfully I did make it to my destination on time. Another question to contemplate; Why is everything in the General Dollar Store not a dollar? It is going to be a major head scratcher, years from now, when people realize that everything in the ‘Dollar Tree’ costs $1.25, though we know now it is because of inflation and the bad economy. This is about the same scenario as the Five and Dime Stores that were started by F. W. Woolworth in 1879, which became an American staple in the twentieth century, yet nothing has been a nickel or a dime for decades now.
The one thing that people just cannot seem to understand, and of all things should not be a head scratcher, is who Jesus is. By studying the Word of God, we can know God is a Spirit, from John 4:24, and that He came in flesh in the man Christ Jesus, from John 1:14. We know that there is only one God from Deuteronomy 6:4 and throughout scripture. Yet so many cannot wrap their mind around the fact that there was only One, because Jesus was God, right? The difference is that Jesus is the only body aka person. Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 24:39, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” 1 Timothy 1:17 declares of God, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Speaking of Jesus in Colossians 2:9, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” He was conceived by the Holy Spirit (which is God) but born of Mary who is flesh. She was used as a vessel. God made this plan to come in flesh, because a spirit, which He is, cannot die, and there had to be shedding of innocent blood to redeem us back to God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 states, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” What a fantastic plan. And now, on this side of Calvary, we can have God, the same, one and only Holy Spirit living within us, because Jesus became sin for us, and took our place. There should be no head scratcher here. This is not a mystery as many people might think, but it makes perfect sense!
If we would simply view the Godhead and plan of salvation through the lens of the scripture, we would not have to figure things out ourselves, and try to make a square peg fit into a round hole. We should study to show ourselves approved, but not try to make the bible say what we think we believe. There is no need to add components, words, or concepts to the Word of God. It is the final authority and should be studied as such. The head scratcher then becomes how can people think there are three Gods, if there were, would each be one third God, one third Almighty, one third omniscient, etc.? How can there be three persons, if Jesus was the only one who was born and had flesh and bone, and God is a spirit? This would be an impossibility if you look at this from a purely biological point of view. If we reduce God down to a person, with flesh, blood, and bone, we have just limited His power to about as much authority as a next door neighbor might have, or even the President of the United States. But God making that decision to come in the form of flesh, which was the man Christ Jesus, for the specific purpose of dying on the cross for our sins, shows His almighty power.
The disciples were also confused in John 14:8-10, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” Jesus also told them plainly in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one.” In John 14:16-18 Jesus continues, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” The first recording of His Spirit being poured out into mankind was on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1-4 tells us, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house here they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The only head scratcher about the act of that selfsame Spirit who is God, coming to dwell within our hearts, is that we are so vile and despicable, and He is so Holy. It is a supernatural, unselfish act on God’s part. There is nothing we can do to earn His grace, but he gives it to us freely and loves us unconditionally. That is a head scratcher to our finite minds, but thankfully it is the facts!
Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Amazing! John 3:14-18 states, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Amazing!
Mary, the mother of Jesus was just like the neighbor girl next door, nothing more and nothing less, except that she surrendered herself to be used of God. She was numbered amongst those on the Day of Pentecost who received the Holy Ghost. If she, being the one who bore the child, Jesus, needed to receive the Spirit, how much more do we need him. We must stop trying to maneuver the word of God into what we want it to say and begin seeking Him for understanding of it. Idol worshippers who seek answers from gods made with their own hands who cannot see or hear are a head scratcher. Let us seek the One who knows all and sees all, and who is beckoning us to come unto Him. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” Jesus told the multitude in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Acts 2:38-39 says, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” No head scratcher there, just a wonderful promise! We have just solved the mystery! If you want to find out where ‘Common Sense’ is hiding, you can exhume it by investigating and digging deep into the Word of God. You will find it on every page.