How to Remove a Skunk

My father was a mechanical engineer for a small, privately owned company in Ohio that designed underground digging and tunneling machines. This often required him travel around the country meeting with prospective clients, training equipment operators on the new machines or making on-site repairs when one of the machines broke down. On one of these trips he procured a room at a motel in Tennessee. After a long day’s work, all he wanted to do was to take a quick shower and jump into bed. Soon after turning off the light for the night, he heard a sound of something moving around in the room. He slowly reached out and turned on the light and caught a glimpse of a skunk scurrying across the floor and under his bed. Quickly slipping on his robe and slippers, he hurried down to the lobby. The manger did not seem too alarmed when he was told of a skunk in the room. He told my dad to wait in front of the room, and he would be right up to get the skunk. The manager showed up a few minutes later with a broom and entered the room to chase the skunk out from under the bed. My dad cleared his throat and commonly said, “Excuse me! I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” “Oh, why?” the manager replied in a foreign accent. My dad asked where he was from and if he was familiar with skunks. The manager said he was from India and knew that skunks were small, stinking rodents. At this point he suggested that the motel manager put away the broom, leave the door open for the skunk to leave on its own and just give him another room.

Now, that was one night in my dad’s life that could have quickly went from bad to worse in a hurry. The manager would have learned a valuable lesson the hard way on how not to remove a skunk, and no one would have wanted to stay in the motel that night.

In life we often have to learn the hard way on how to deal with troublesome people and terrible problems. Sooner or later we find out that our ways often create a bigger stink, yet the better solution is often as simple as leaving an open door.

While the Israelites were traveling through the wilderness, they often encountered problems. Too frequently their solution created a bigger mess. When they did not know what happened to Moses at Mount Sinai, they had Aaron make the golden calf. This resulted in the death of 3000. When they complained about no meat, their plan was to go back to Egypt so they could have fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic (I guess they had a bad case of stinky breath on that diet). However, God sent quail for them to eat and eat and eat until it came out their nostrils (Num. 11:20). Then the Lord sent a great plague. Troubles only became worse every time they tried to solve a problem their way. Jeremiah realized, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (10:23).

Perhaps, you have made the mistake of trying to chase away the skunks in your life with a broom. Your marriage has problems so you run off and find you a lawyer to chase away your spouse only to find yourself in a bigger mess. You find yourself pregnant without a husband and without a job so you go to a doctor and put a contract out on your unborn baby’s life. Years later you still find yourself haunted by this murderous decision. Instead of bringing your children “up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4) in frustration you just turn them out on this world only for them to bring you shame through their reckless living. Remember, life’s problems get worse when you decide to settle things your way.

Up north in Canada and Alaska the bears are king of the local trash dumps. All the animals and humans will give way when the bears come to forge in the filth for food. However, these powerful beasts are wise enough to give way to the skunk that comes to the dump for a meal. Are you as smart as the average bear?

– Daniel R. Vess