What do they say about Murphy’s Law?

What do they say about Murphy’s Law? “If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.” I’ve had that type of few days. That type of week. The order that I needed for the next few weeks doing Lenten Missions was now not available. The stock levels on the computer were wrong and they had NO STOCK. I was scrambling to fix this problem. The flight I was flying on was cancelled and had to organize another one to make the destination in time. One member of our small team could not come now due to health reasons. A piece of equipment has gone “missing.” No one knows where it is. Another scramble to try and fix this issue. And that is just a few issues that have arisen.

Where did that saying originate? It always appeared so negative and an “Eeyore” (the Donkey from Winnie the Pooh) saying to me. I always thought it was an Irish saying, a bit of a negative joke….. but no.

It started in 1949 at Edwards Air Force Base named after Captain Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on an Air Force Project MX981. A project testing safety-critical systems designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can withstand in a crash. Now of course they used “Crash dummies” but it is supposed to show us our human limitations in different situations. Not in a negative aspect but in a positive way. So, for safety how much can one do before you crash and burn. It’s how they worked out that we need seatbelts.  How Safety chairs and boosters for young children of a certain weight and height needed to be built with certain strength and rigidity. NOT the negative connotation of ‘woah is me, everything is going wrong.’

Murphy was attributed to three laws. To again show humans how careful they need to be and how long things may take.

Murphy’s First Law – Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Murphy’s Second Law – Nothing is as easy as it looks.

Murphy’s Third Law – Everything takes longer than you think it will.

Actually, when you read these, it is just warnings that mistakes can happen. Things can go wrong. Learn from them. Then your stress, your injuries, your unpeacefulness will be less.

What does Jesus say? Give me your burdens, for Peace I give to you and peace I leave with you. He does suggest we humanly assess choices and decisions we make. What will this mean for my life?

For who among you, wanting to build a tower, would not first sit down and determine the costs that are required, to see if he has the means to complete it?

Otherwise, after he will have laid the foundation and not been able to finish it, everyone who sees it may begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build what he was not able to finish.”

Luke 14:28-30

Jesus wants us to be wise in our decisions. In following Him he wants us to know he wants everything, all of us. To truly follow Jesus, we need to give up all that we possess. Not necessarily give up our houses, our belongings (even though he does ask that of some) but not to place them before Him in our hearts.

Therefore, everyone of you who does not renounce all that he possesses is not able to be a disciple.

Luke 14:33

The wonderful mercy of God allows us to journey to this place of surrender. Some seem to do this so easy. Others like even Great St Augustine did it incrementally. He first said. “Lord make me pure, but not yet!”

So, all these things that were going wrong, are just sometimes stuff that can happen. Try and plan and make choices to the best of your ability. Then rely on the Holy Spirit to do the rest. Make up the shortfall. Oh, does that make my heart so peaceful to know that!

So, I’ve changed my thinking on Murphy’s Law. It’s a positive saying to get us to be more careful, more wary of choices and decisions that we make. To try and avoid “crashing and burning.” To know there will be times when we crash and burn but hopefully, we only need band aids for repairs and then the Lord to fix the rest.

Where do you need help in your life from God for decisions and choices you have made?

May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’

Love

Rosemary

Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups. If you would like more information please click HERE.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Where do you need help in your life from God for decisions and choices you have made?

Are you able to give your burdens to God and then experience His peace?

What is stopping you from giving your burdens to God?