This proverb about farming also says something important about life

3 min read

Without oxen a stable stays clean,
but you need a strong ox for a large harvest. – Proverbs 14:4

When it comes to overseeing your living space or work area, they say there are ten levels of tidiness. On one end of the scale is perfection (100%) and on the other end is a cluttered mess (10%).

Where would you place yourself along this scale? Are you more on the neat freak/OCD end? The Messy Marvin side? Or, somewhere in the middle?

Redeeming the Yuck

No matter what your preference as to levels of tidiness, it is an unavoidable fact that life can get messy.

Sometimes conflict and troubles pile up on us like dishes in the sink.

And it stinks.

Relationships, for example, can get really yucky. As much as we would like them to be “nice and tidy” all the time, this is rare. I mean, how could a relationship between two imperfects ever be perfect?

But here’s an encouraging thought: maybe the mess simply means that something constructive is happening. Mess isn’t necessarily the same as waste. As annoying as the yuck factor may be, the reality is that where there is no mess, there is also probably no progress.

Think of the ancient agricultural proverb quoted above. The idea is that if there is no ox in the stall, there will be no manure in the stall either. The floors of the stall will be clean. All wil be nice and tidy. No gross excrement, no flies, nothing.

However, this also means that there will be no ox to plow the field and to harvest the crop. What the proverb is saying quite simply is no poop, no profit.

True in life also, is it not?

Stuff happens. And if you find yourself stepping in it right now, it may just mean that the ox is working. No need to resent the mess. Rather, embrace it as a byproduct of your growth and development as a person and as a Christian.

There’s meaning in the mess. Don’t let it go to waste.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.