They say that caution is a friend, but I just saw how hesitation can lead to great disaster.

Sometimes you miss out when you hesitate … 

When you get a hot tip regarding the stock market, if you snooze, you lose.

When a store has a one day sale on something you have really wanted, but you question whether it is the right time for you to purchase it, that little hesitation could cost you getting in on that sale. 

I’ve noticed when you want to walk across certain traffic intersections, if you don’t start walking right away, an orange hand sign starts flashing. Your hesitation on the walk sign could mean you spend the better part of a day just trying to get across the street. 

The other day my wife, Lily, and I were in our car heading down the street to an appointment. 

Up ahead a squirrel dashed out to cross the road as we kept moving towards it. The little rodent stopped about half way across the road and looked back at us. He could see our car was bearing down on him. 

He continued to cross but then hesitated and stopped. He started to dash back the way he came when we were almost upon him. He stopped again, then ran for the other side. 

It was such a close call that I looked in the rearview mirror to see if there was a dark splat on the road. 

Somehow – and to be honest, I don’t know how – he didn’t get run over. 

So the play-by-play went something like this: “Look a squirrel is running across the street; wait now he’s stopped. Okay, he’s going to keep going. No, he’s stopped again. Now he’s going back; but wait, he’s stopped again. He’s going to cross the street. Did we get him? I don’t see any marks.” 

I am sure, in that one afternoon, that squirrel went from being a young squirrel to being an old senior who no longer crosses the road without help. Years were taken off that wild little critter’s life in a flash. 

Both Lily and I could not believe we didn’t run him over. We must have missed him by inches, maybe even just a fraction of an inch. 

He would not have had any issues getting across the street if he had have just gone straight across. It was his hesitation that got him into trouble. 

And even his first hesitation may not have been that scary, but three times he stopped moving and considered going the other way. … The fast moving tires and the evil grin of the car’s grill probably had him in a complete panic. 

That squirrel was not the only one of his kind to find himself in that kind of a situation. Squirrels are notorious for their hesitation. 

That is why many of them live on the edge of disaster all the time. 

Here’s the thing: Hesitation is not our friend when we face temptation. When confronted with something that is enticing us into a poor decision, a sin of some kind, hesitation causes us to flirt with disaster. When temptation comes, don’t hesitate. Know the right course of action and take it immediately to avoid potential disaster.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: In what area(s) of your life do you tend to hesitate? Leave your comments and questions below.