I once lived in a rented home that had a long list of recurring issues. However, to look at the 2 story house, you’d think it was in great shape. The longer I lived there, I began to understand how the issues remained unseen. The first time I called my landlord to tell him we had a rotted out wooden panel in the porch, I wasn’t horribly surprised when he showed up with a paint bucket, brush and a screwdriver. He examined the rotten wood panel and he shook his gallon of paint very well and opened it carefully as he dipped his brush in and began painting over the visually obvious areas of the rot. I raised an eyebrow, but I figured, “Hey, it’s HIS house…whatever he thinks is appropriate is ok with me.” He told me it was all taken care of and touched up a few corners before he left.
About 3 months later, I was standing at the kitchen window and I saw what appeared to be a scene from the latest John Carpenter horror movie…HORDES of termites with wings billowing out of an opening in-between the brick and paneling just outside. I mean they were EVERYWHERE and just pouring out of this hole like it was dinner time for zombies. So, I called my landlord and told him “Hurry, the bugs are everywhere!” Not too much later he showed up with…A gallon of paint, a brush and a screwdriver. I began to replay our conversation in my head trying to think of how “TERMITE” might be misinterpreted as something that required paint. I got nothing. He opened the paint and globbed the pain in the hole where the bugs were still emitting from and eventually he was able to stop the flow by filling the hole with the paint. I wasn’t sure of this approach or the reasoning behind it other than if no one sees it it doesn’t exist.
About 2 weeks later I called him again because the mantel over our fireplace was completely infested with you guessed it….TERMITES! When he arrived I showed him the mantel and literally pushed my finger 2 inches into the hollowed wood. I could see the little bugs crawling all through the interior of the mantle. I was disgusted yet now surprised. I mean where else could the termites have gone after their exit was closed a couple weeks before? So then he removed the lid, and began painting the mantle until all evidence of the termites was concealed. I can’t help but imagine Paul Harvey having something witty to quip about this ridiculous circle of senselessness.
Obviously, no matter what efforts are taken to conceal issues, there won’t be any lasting resolve until the heart of the matter is dealt with. How many things in our lives are we “painting over”? Sometimes an ample coat of paint can temporarily make things seem ok, but over time, if they aren’t confronted and properly dealt with, there is a pretty strong chance they will return again later…and quite possibly in even greater numbers or affect! Facing the reality of some things could be painful, embarrassing, humiliating or even costly – but the temporary discomfort will always be outweighed by the cost of procrastination.
When I was bounty hunting I was amazed at how many times the defendant simply didn’t want to go to court and face the reality of their mistakes because they were scared, but failing to appear in court truly did NOTHING to make the situation any better…but in reality, it was only a matter of time until that person had to ultimately ‘face the music’. It would have been SO much easier the first time around.
Don’t put off taking the actions you KNOW are necessary to rectify something – eventually you will be faced with a far more uncomfortable situation if you choose to ignore issues.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields
the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
– Hebrews 12:11
“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”
– Proverbs 10:4