Emergency Drills

                 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— (I Corinthians 2:9)

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (II Corinthians 4:7)

 

I must start with a disclaimer. These verses do not mean that the painful, frustrating, difficult, heart-breaking, unendurable things that take place in our lives are not painful, frustrating, difficult, heart-breaking, or unendurable. This battle verse changes nothing about life and its difficulties. These verses aren’t something to use to build a wall between us and someone who is in pain so that we’ve done our good deed for the day and needn’t bother ourselves further with their needs.

They may be thought of as either vision verses, or comfort food. I’m inclined to think of them as the former. When negatives either sneak or slam into our lives and weigh us down or knock us off our feet, our vision tends to shrink down to the size and shape of the thing, or the emotions and sensations related to it.

As I think about them, a memory has surfaced. Once, someone wrote a letter to the editor mocking my faith – with the warning that I shouldn’t jump off any roofs. The idea was that God isn’t going to catch me if I do. Standing in the middle of said hypothetical roof, of course, the warning makes perfect sense. However, I noted that I have been on this roof before, and if one changes one’s perspective by walking to the edge along one side, one sees a fire escape that reaches nearly to the roof. Because I know where it is, I can jump off the roof of this building. I’ve done it before.

One key to this is experience. Another is perspective. A third is faith, and that’s really what these verses are about. As we change our perspective from what’s right in front of us to what is ahead, we are better able to deal with what’s right in front of us because it ceases to be as big and all-consuming. It may not be easy or comfortable, but it’s helpful. And it’s as we face smaller struggles that we need to practice this.

The smaller struggles concept brings to mind another idea. Over the past weekend, I went a little overboard. We had a cold snap for a couple of days, and in addition to doing the obvious that needed to be done (covering plants or putting them in the shed) I tried to do an emergency drill. What could I do that would help if this had been a real emergency? I thought of a few things and didn’t think of others that would probably have helped more.

I suspect God would understand, and even applaud, our doing “emergency drills” for our spiritual and physical protection.