“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” We’ve all heard that phrase a million times in our life, and we’ve used it ourselves when talking to others many times. But how often do we really consider the power of that advice? I have had many experiences throughout my life that have taught me that lesson, again & again.
One of those instances involves the fact that, up until the age of 24, I had never broken a bone. I had had plenty of opportunities to do that, having survived a couple of car wrecks and having had other significant “thrills & spills.” But if finally succeeded in breaking one of my bones, on September 1, 1986.
It’s a long & stupid story, so I won’t bore you w/ the unneeded details, but the Reader’s Digest Version. During the course of that evening, I managed to fall – a distance of around 6-7 feet. Landing on my back, I actually crushed one of my vertebrae. It’s called a “Burst Fracture,” where the bone involved literally explodes into incredibly small pieces. Yes, where for the first 24 1/2 years of my life, I had been able to almost brag about never having had a broken bone, this would no longer be the case.
Very fortunately, even though the injury was as serious as it was, and even though I had been picked up & moved, twice, by people who had no idea what they were doing, I was not paralyzed. But nevertheless, I had been put in my place, in a sense. I found out the hard way that I wasn’t invincible after all.
I mentioned the phrase, “Don’t count your chickens…” earlier. Well, a number of years ago, I discovered the Biblical version to that piece of advice. It comes from 1 Kings 20:11, and it’s there the Bible says, “He who puts on his battle armor shouldn’t boast like the one who takes his battle armor off.” Wow. Yea, pretty much says it all, don’t you think
Three In One 