Browsed by
Tag: puzzled

No Rhyme or Reason

No Rhyme or Reason

Comments 11 comments

No Rhyme or Reason--globe puzzleDo you have trouble understanding our world today? Much that we see and hear has no rhyme or reason.

No rhyme or reason means decisions or actions make no sense.

We find no logical explanation for:

  • Documents filled with nothing but red tape
  • Decisions that hurt rather than help
  • Concern only for self

They puzzle us. Most make us out of sorts.

Similar expressions include:

  • Without rhyme or reason
  • No rhyme nor reason
  • Neither rhyme nor reason

The Free Dictionary says this expression “originated in French about 1475.”

English use began about one hundred years later.

We find no rhyme or reason for certain events beyond our control.

  • Unexplained medical problems
  • Unexpected severe weather

God can use every circumstance, including those that puzzle us.

We often see that in the Bible. For example, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Yet God used their evil plans for good.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20 NIV).

Thanks to Ann Klotz for the suggestion. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Up a Stump

Up a Stump

Comments 12 comments

Up a Stump--stump I always thought up a stump meant the same as stumped. My friend Patty Cooper Emerson explained a difference in the two.

Stumped means confused or puzzled.

We cut a few trees in our back year. I was stumped about what to do with the stumps. Should I:

  • Dig them up
  • Burn them
  • Leave them alone

Up a Stump--honeysuckle-covered stumpWith one stump, I let nature take control. Honeysuckle grew near it. I allowed the honeysuckle to keep growing. Now, it covers the stump and blooms all summer. Problem solved.

No longer stumped, I have a pretty stump.

Up a stump means a situation too big to manage.

I cannot solve the problem. I:

  • Have no choice
  • Must live with it

Patty gave the example of a young man who arrives 30 minutes late to work every day. If he is my sister’s son, I might feel up a stump – like I can do nothing.

What makes me feel up a stump may not make you feel that way.  

  • You may be comfortable firing your sister’s son.
  • I may feel comfortable with a problem you cannot manage.

Nothing leaves God up a stump. Rather than tying myself in knots or becoming a worry wart, I can take all my problems to God. So can you.

“A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree” (Proverbs 11:28 MSG).

If you use up a stump and stumped, do you mean the same? Please comment below.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email and receive a free copy of “Words of Hope for Days that Hurt.”

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.