Mama Use to Say

For a workshop that I am giving.. See this post...

Write down a saying that you have heard an older person say all of your life.

I have two things that stick out in my mind.
"You'll learn sense before sense learns you."
"God may not come when you want Him, but He is always on time.

What does that saying mean to you?

"You'll learn sense before sense learns you."
That means that you will learn a lesson the easy way before you have to learn it the hard way.

Take a child for instance, if the child is always standing up in a chair with wheels on it. You tell the child over and over that if they don't be careful, they are going to fall one of these days. The child does not listen and continue the activity. Finally, one day, the child ends up falling out of the chair as a result of the negative behavior. That is learning sense before sense learns you.

"God may not come when you want Him, but He is always on time.
I did not understand this one for the longest time. My thought process was, "if God does not come when you want Him to, how can He be on time." People tried to explain it to me, but I never got it until I became an adult.

God may not come at the exact moment that you call Him, but He will be there at the moment that you need Him the most.

This is what happened when I understood this. I have worked as a temporary employee off and on for a long time. I had been unemployed for a few months, and my unemployment ran out on me. I didn't even realize that it was running out until I got the last check and a note about it in the mail. I was frantic. I began calling all of the temp agencies that I was registered with each week. I was praying, too. I kept praying, "Lord, I need an assignment so I can pay the rent." I did not get one for three or four weeks. My rent was going to be due in about ten days and I still had no money in sight. My roommate, who was also my brother, did not play about the rent. I was getting nervous. The end of the story is… I got an assignment, just in the nick of time. I also made just enough money on the assignment to pay the rent and have like $10 left over. God is good.

How have your thoughts about the saying changed since you have gotten older?

I have rephrased both of these sayings to make them more relevant for me and today's society.

"You'll learn sense before sense learns you." – You need to learn life's lessons the easiest way possible instead of having to go through the lesson and learn it the hard way. Another way that I phrase this saying is, "God if you can let me hear about it, instead of going through, I will certainly learn the lesson that way."

"God may not come when you want Him, but He is always on time." - He may not come right when you ask Him to, but He will be there before they tow your car away.