The Boomerang Effect

Too much of a good thing? Just consider:

• Food – need I say more?
• Work – enjoying your work is a real blessing, until it consumes a person, crowding out focusing on the even greater blessings of family, friends . . .
• Health-care – on a societal level, there is probably no more obvious misuse of an enormous potential blessing so that, for all the money spent, we are sadly little better off than 30 years ago! A drug company just recently began advertising for a new pill that “helps” people who are tired and stressed – so when tired and stress we can now, as the first option, consult a doctor and take medication rather than doing what people have understood for hundreds (if not thousands of years) – try getting proper and adequate rest! At least two-thirds of all U.S. medical costs are the sole result of irresponsibility on the part of people – inadequate rest, over-eating and a lack of exercise.
• Education – in spite of massive additional “investments,” schools have sadly become “money pits” showing not improvement, but rather a decline in output. We focus and spend on teaching without considering and emphasizing the responsibility of the learner – the more important of the two key learning factors.
• Time – never have so many people had so much “free” time, but how is it being spent?
• Money – bigger houses, larger cars, more clothes, bigger closets and storage warehouses, easier credit with bankruptcies spiraling, more whining about what we don’t have that we want, like squirrels gathering acorns for retirement, but never satisfied . . . the Bible is certainly right “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” ^1Ti 6:10 A lack of fiscal responsibility will overwhelm a great deal of potential blessings.
• Freedom – we understand children must be responsible and earn their freedom, while denying the same is true for adults.

These potential and conditional blessings are only effectual when, and to the extent, we use and control them responsibly.

In whatever way(s) we are blessed we should look for ways to properly and responsibly use the blessing rather than to hoard or otherwise be irresponsible with it. And above all, we should exercise the discipline of thankfulness rather than cursing ourselves with laments of unmet entitlements.

In Proverbs 30, Solomon warned about the equal dangers of poverty and abundance:

“Two things I ask of you, O LORD?
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

And Jesus expressed the ultimate and greatest blessing of abundance (No, not a bigger house, new TV . . .):

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Want to avoid The Boomerang Effect (having too much of a good thing)? We could move to a fourth-world country (even third-world countries are caught up in the rat-race of “more, more, more”) where no one has anything or be disciplined in responsibility and thankfulness. It is right to enjoy God’s blessings – but we can only hope to do this as we seek and follow His guidelines and instructions as detailed in the Bible.

In Summary

Be thankful – be blessed – follow God’s guidelines and instructions.

or

Be irresponsible – never have enough – be cursed in the midst of plenty.

No, a single person can seldom turn the tide of the mass, but they can (by being aware of and doing something about the dangers) mitigate the damage to them. Joshua understood this when he challenged his fellow Jews by telling them:

“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers . . . and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Don’t let blessings boomerang, and become curses, because of a lack of discipline in the areas of thankfulness and responsibility! For we can clearly see, on both a societal and individual level, more money is not necessarily a blessing (look at the poor results for lottery winners!), great educational options do not inevitably lead to greater knowledge, “better” health-care opportunities are not resulting in improved health . . . because irresponsibility has lead to a boomeranging of the promised blessings to over-all real and present curse; except for those who can honestly say – “as for me and my house . . .