As the old adage says, “What you don’t know can kill you.” I offer a solution in the last paragraph but think about this. You shake someone’s hand who is beginning a cold and before you know it you too have a cold. You can’t see salmonella in your food or E.coli in the water but both will make you sick. We don’t know if there are germs on the door handles, on the elevator buttons or the shopping cart we push around at the supermarket but they can all harm us. So obviously the saying holds a huge element of truth.
Without knowing all sides to the issues we often have to make choices. Think of medical concerns we face. A friend of ours diagnosed with cancer refused chemotherapy and for him it was the best thing. Another friend had chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer went into remission and it has probably added some years to his life. In such circumstances we should be asking many questions of the medical profession. We should seek to know all the implications and likely scenarios. It is the only way we will know what we don’t know.
We make decisions all day and every day, some good, some bad, many without having to think too much about them. My wife and I were invited to view a newly renovated house recently. It meant climbing two lots of steep stairs. Suffering from Parkinson’s that would have been very difficult for my wife, but not impossible. She would have needed help getting up the stairs and even more help coming down. The risk of falling was out of proportion to being left with a mental image of the renovated place. More than one person could have finished up in hospital. Some decisions are no brainers!
However, there are more critical issues which affect the whole family. Should we move house, should I change my job, how can I better provide for my family, and other similar crucial issues. Many of us faced those hard questions when we moved to this country. I know from personal communication that some of you are facing some tough situations right now. I feel for you. It is very hard, especially when you so desperately want to make the right decision and do the right thing. Unfortunately we often have to make choices or decisions just with the information we have to hand. It is here where your “gut feeling” often comes into play.
What I would say is this. Make those decisions with care. Try to check out all aspects from every possible angle, especially the affect upon your family and others impacted by your choice. Get to know what you don’t know about the road ahead. It takes courage to move forward without all the knowledge we might wish for but move forward we do, and invariably we are glad we did. It is always good to seek counsel from trusted friends who have your interest at heart. An outside objective view will go a long way to clear away the fog hanging over a difficult decision.
Christians should have an advantage with prayer and the guidance of God. It should give some clarity to the way ahead. However, sometimes we are anxious to act and maybe a little impatient in waiting for an answer. It reminds me of the person who said, “Give me patience Lord but hurry up about it!”
I know life choices and big decisions are serious but let me conclude with a more lighthearted consideration. Because it is true that what we don’t know can harm us, we need to get to know what we don’t know then we will know what we don’t know and what we don’t know can’t hurt us anymore. Now there’s your thought for the day!
