Just Looking

By Kay Heitsch

There was a lot of new home construction going on in our neighborhood. As you might well imagine, this construction was quite fascinating for little boys. One day, as I was on my daily walk I heard a young mother yell, "Joey, what are you doing?" I looked around to see if I could see the little guy. I did see him. Joey was standing on top of a mound of dirt, looking down into a newly dug basement. Joey yelled back, "I'm just looking, Mom! I'm not looking for trouble!" 

Now seeing Joey standing on top of this mound of dirt, Joey's Mom ran out of the house to help him come down before falling in the hole. I smiled at Joey's response. He didn't think he was "looking for trouble," but his mother could see that Joey may be in trouble with just a slip of his little foot. 

How often do we think we are "just-looking" when in reality, we may be "looking for trouble?" In the garden, Jesus said to the disciples twice: "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." Luke 22:40 and again in Luke 22:45. Jesus knew that the disciples were about to be standing on top of a situation where they might fall. Jesus wanted them to pray that they would not fall into temptation. Why? Because Jesus wanted to save them from the hurt that the fall would cause. 

I think we all know the story. Peter denied Jesus, and the others ran away when they were on top of the situation. They did not pray ahead of time but fell asleep instead. The emotional hurt they felt was genuine. We may not think that trouble could be around the corner when we are on top of the hill. We may think we are "just looking," not knowing that there could be trouble if we fell. I believe that if we are wise, we will remember the words of Jesus: "Pray that you will not fall into temptation," even though we may think that we are "just-looking" and "not looking for trouble." What do you think?