Are You a Fool?

Like the 1877 novel by Anna Sewell, the 1994 film version of Black Beauty is narrated by the titular horse. In one scene, Beauty and his groom, John, are traveling through a raging rainstorm at night. The horse is valiantly pulling their carriage through the downpour and high winds, but when they approach the middle of a wooden bridge spanning what’s become a raging river, he’s sure danger is ahead. Beauty halts and then rears and whinnies, doing everything he can think of to stop John from forcing him to go on. He loves the man, and he doesn’t want him to be harmed.

John thinks the world of Beauty, but he foolishly wonders why he’s being so skittish. They’ve been on this bridge before. He hops down and leads the horse forward, but Beauty again balks, desperate for John to realize that trouble looms ahead. Then the wood under John collapses, tossing him into the powerful river. Still clutching Beauty’s reins as the horse stands firm, John swims to safety even as more of the bridge crumbles into the rapid currents below.

John would have saved himself a dangerous dunking if he’d only believed Beauty knew best. And if they’d continued crossing, they could have all fallen into the swollen river and perished. Had he been a fool? You decide.

The Way of a Fool

God is no horse, but we know he loves us and doesn’t want us harmed, and we claim to believe he knows best. Yet when he warns us against a path we’re taking, do we turn back? Or do we wonder why he’s being so cautious? Sure, maybe the path does seem a little dicey, but some risky paths have taken us where we needed (or wanted) to go before. What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that when we ignore God’s warnings and forge ahead, we become bona fide fools.

“Sounds Good to Me!”—The way of fools seems right to them. (Proverbs 12:15 NIV)

Despite God’s warnings, Eve listened to a deceitful enemy and walked a dangerous path, becoming the first fool recorded in Genesis. (Satan was probably the first fool ever, though. He turned his back on God, somehow believing his evil ways were preferable to serving his creator.) Adam came right behind Eve, agreeing that the opportunity to be like God after eating a piece of innocuous-looking fruit sounded promising. We know what happened next—they took on a sinful nature, needing the same forgiveness we all need. “Sounds good to me!” did not serve them well.

“I Know What I’m Doing!”—Those who trust in themselves are fools. (Proverbs 28:26 NIV)

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves” (Galatians 6:3 NIV). Oh, how we who are nothing without God’s grace sometimes think we know what we don’t. How we can strike out on a treacherous journey for the next minute or potentially for a lifetime without heeding a warning from God. “I know what I’m doing!” when it comes to deciding to walk a path God says is as hazardous as a compromised bridge in a storm is one mark of a fool.

The God of Second Chances

In Black Beauty, John falls into the river, but he’s not lost. Beauty’s reins are his lifeline, and he’s reliant on the horse’s strength and reliability as he makes his way up and out. When he looks around, he can see what could have happened had they moved forward—disaster. The film doesn’t show us, but we can be sure John turns the carriage around with Beauty in the lead.

Have you ever been saved from a complete disaster because you got a taste of the danger before it was too late? Whether God orchestrates that taste or simply allows it can be debated. But either way, experiencing some danger before it’s too late to avoid disaster—given a second chance to change course—can be a blessing. All of us can fail to heed God’s warnings, but he is a God of second chances. With those chances, we can learn to hear and heed him, turning around and letting him lead.

God, we’re presented with many paths, some that seem innocuous or “safe enough” but are more dangerous than we know. We can be deceived by our own tendency to forge ahead toward what seems good or when we think we know better than you. Help us hear your warnings and heed them. May we praise you always for your loving care and kindness, sometimes coming in the form of a second chance when we’ve failed. Amen.

Scripture for Reflection

The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:9–11 NIV)

Reach for More

John and Black Beauty weren’t alone in this scene; another man sat in the carriage, frightened and watching the event unfold. If Beauty represents God and John represents us, perhaps this man represents all the people who wait to see what difference Christ makes in the lives of those who serve him and what difference they make for Christ.

Being one kind of fool, then, makes sense. In 1 Corinthians 4:10 (NIV), Paul writes that he and Apollos are “fools for Christ’s sake” because as his apostles they “have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world” (verse 13). In other words, the world thought them fools, but they were willing to be fools in the service of the Lord.

How can you be a fool for Christ today or this week?

Jean Kavich Bloom is a champion coffee drinker and a freelance editor and writer for Christian publishers and ministries. She doesn’t garden, bake, or knit, but insists playing Scrabble is exactly the same thing. Jean and her husband, Cal, live in central Indiana. They have three children (plus two who married in) and five grandchildren. She blogs at bloominwordstoo.blogspot.com.