Reactive
You probably don’t know how old you first were when you heard the story of the three little pigs. But I bet you still remember it. The story is over 100 years old now. But just in case, let’s go over it again. There were three pigs who were kicked out of their home by their mother who could no longer afford to feed them (harsh, but true. Look it up). Two of the pigs didn’t work all that much, building their own homes out of straw and then sticks. I have never tried to build a home out of straw or sticks but I imagine it would be pretty hard to do. Nevertheless, the story makes this out to be an easy, not-very-time-consuming task, as it tells of both pigs playing the day away after their homes were built. The third pig built his house out of bricks. I am not sure where he got bricks. Maybe he made them. This seems like a very time consuming task, and the story agrees with me as it says he didn’t have time to play the day away.
It is not long before a wolf comes along, smells the pigs, and thinks of dinner. He first tries to get the straw home pig to let him in. This is kind of strange because what pig in its right mind would let a wolf into its house? When this ploy fails the wolf literally blows the house down. The pig runs to the stick house and the cycle repeats. Finally the three pigs find themselves in the brick house and the wolf can’t blow it down. Why the three pigs didn’t combine their forces and build a house for all of them together is beyond me.
This story is old but not anywhere near as old as the Bible. Does it remind you of a parable from the New Testament?
Mathew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
I bet in some way this parable inspired the story of the Three Little Pigs. I think what they are really talking about is being reactive vs. proactive. Let me explain.
When we are reactive we react to the things that happen to us. When we are proactive we prepare for what might happen to us. The proactive person, in a way, has already reacted to a situation and planned ahead for it. This is such an important skill. It is actually the first habit listed in the iconic book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” Here is a snippet from that website about being proactive:
Habit 1: Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for our lives. This is the first habit because every other habit depends on our ability to act proactively rather than reactively—to make things happen rather than waiting for them to happen.
The author explains that reactive people often use phrases such as “I have to,” but proactive people say “I get to.”
Do you have any examples of proactive behavior in your life? Here is one to think about: emergency preparedness. I live in an area where tornadoes happen. When tornadoes (or even just bad storms) pop up, can you guess how difficult it is to find a generator to buy at a local store? They are sold out. The proactive person already has a generator and doesn’t need to buy one when disaster strikes.
Here is another example from the New Testament about being proactive (this one is pretty obvious).
Matthew 25:1-13
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
And if you would rather look for this in the Old Testament you can do that too. Joseph, for example, was pretty reactive early in life:
Genesis 37:5-9
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
Getting a fancy coat and showing it off is not a proactive thing to do. Neither is telling your brothers about a dream where you are made to be more important. The brothers reacted to this very badly.
But an older, wiser Joseph did something extremely proactive:
Genesis 41:33-38
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”
Planning for a famine is very proactive. Moses is another example of a life initially reactive and later become proactive. Planning for an exodus takes a lot of forethought. In both of these stories we see that God is present in the proactive person. It’s almost like the Bible is saying preparation is spiritual. God is actively involved in the process.
The spiritually proactive person invites God into their life and anticipates the needs of others. They build their proverbial house on solid rock because they know troubles will come and they prepare themselves for it.
God Bless