Boiling Water

In the old example, the frog jumps clear from the container when it discovers the water is too hot for it to survive. So, it either boils to death or jumps to live. On the other hand, a frog will sit, stay and die in the same container of water if the temperature is slowly increased to the same boiling point as before.

Why am I saying this? What’s the parallel with the frog? Let me explain, and please stay with me because I might ruffle a few feathers and upset some friends, but neither of these is my aim or purpose. Let’s make the analogy to our church, its beliefs, and the individual members. Let’s say one of the members goes to church year after year, checks out the beliefs and fully accepts the theology. The water in the tank is just right, and that’s ok. Then someone in leadership adds, removes, or alters, one of the basic beliefs you had accepted. This doesn’t feel right, and the water slowly gets warmer still. Then another person you respect and trust accepts and adopts yet another change fully and the water continues to boiling point. What to do now?

If this ‘old’ member stays against their better judgement, they will spiritually die in the slow change of temperature as it rises. However, if that same old member senses the sudden temperature change and acts quickly to leap from the tank, he or she is saved and can find another tank where the spiritual atmosphere and temperature is just right, and that ‘frog’ will survive.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27

In this parable Jesus says that the storm came in increasing intensity. The rain, then the floods, and finally the winds. At each point the house owner had the chance to react, but the foolish man built on a soft foundation and chose not to move. He had the same circumstances as the wise man. The difference was in the sure, unchangeing foundation of his belief. Which storms would you or I survive? Based on the ‘frog and the boiling water’ example, who do you see as the wise frog? It comes down to this, would you jump or die?

Yet!

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18 ESV

It is no secret that we credit our great and loving God for the answers to our prayers, or to be more accurate, the answers we want or even like. We lift our hands and voices in praise when that loved one is spared a serious and life threatening illness, or a student gets an A+ grade, we have enough money to pay our bills, our day out has good sunny weather, or I have even heard of someone thanking God for finding a parking place in an otherwise busy car park.

But what about those times that we pray earnestly, and the answer is not what we needed or wanted? That loved one was not spared the finality of her life threatening disease? Our much loved child failed their exams spectacularly, We couldn’t pay that bill and it went overdue? It rained on our Sunday School trip and the day was ruined? And perish the thought, we didn’t get that much needed parking place close to the shopping mall!

The Old Testament prophet knew all about trouble. Real trouble, and he prayed because he needed to pray, BUT he didn’t just recognise the good answers from God, he still praised Him when the storeroom was empty, the harvest failed, and the livestock died all creating a drought and famine in the land. It doesn’t make sense to us to praise God for answers like these, but that’s exactly what he did. The reason is that the prophet trusted God to know the end from the beginning. He knew that God saw the long term outlook and not just what was happening now.

May the good Lord help us to be trusting enough to know that He’s got this on our behalf. It may not be what our short sightedness sees, but it will be what will be best in the long run. I reckon we can see the funny side of the person who doesn’t get a parking slot, but what about the loved one that dies in spite of our frantic and heart wrenching prayers? That, my Christian friend is one of the biggest lessons life will ever through at you, or me. I hope, trust and pray we are up to the challenge of the “yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” just like that little known, but wise Old Testament prophet Habakkuk!

Withdraw

When danger is imminent, or life is in peril, some animals and shellfish will pull their head back into their shell or body. It’s a natural safety mechanism which the great Creator designed into their being to protect against predators. We humans can’t physically do that, but in times of stress, loss or danger, we certainly do withdraw from the normal activities of everyday life.

A friend lost his wife too early. As a couple they were always together. The standing joke was, if you are looking for one of them, try to see where the other one might be. You can imagine then that the loss was felt deeply by the grieving person, now left on his own. His sister was heard to observe, “he’ll just retreat into himself, and withdraw”. She was right. Just like the tortoise who pulls his head inside his shell, figuratively speaking, this man also pulled his head inside his body for self protection.

We withdraw for another good reason too. Trouble doesn’t only come in a physical form. It can be through an emotional hurt, or someone you love and respect turning out to be less than you had thought. They had fallen off their perch, or maybe we had put them on a pedestal, but whichever it was, it affected you and the trust you had placed in them. The most striking example is the breakdown of a relationship or marriage, but it can also and easily be as simple as a little ‘white’ lie from a friend which had serious repercussions within your own life, or a strongly held and opposing point of view.

It can be safer to keep your head down, otherwise you could lose it. In the words of the old (not Biblical) proverb, “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”!

What, Nothing?

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV

Words written centuries ago by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, but surely it’s different these days? We have advanced in so many ways that Solomon wouldn’t recognise. Technology, medicine, science, education, air and space travel, but are these the kinds of things Solomon was talking about? Obviously not. One thing is the same, and that is human nature. We haven’t advanced any in the things that make us ‘tick’ since the days in the garden of Eden.

The heart of men and women need something that our advanced civilisation cannot provide. How do you measure love, hate, sympathy, and all the feelings that come from within? The simple answer is that you cannot figure out these emotions using advanced science. Having said the obvious, it follows that the truth and morality of the Bible still holds today, just as it did in Solomon’s time.

We look for ways to make church more attractive, so that we can bring those ‘outside the fold’ inside. Once they are inside, we must take the next step to provide the only answer to life’s ills and disappointments and it’s the Gospel. We cannot afford to get sidetracked into spending all our time in new programs, which can be a good thing, only to fail at the most important part. The possible outcome could be a busy church, full of half hearted attenders, or a half full church of sincere Christians loving and living the Gospel in open outreach. No prizes for guessing where my vote would lie. Finally, if you say you would rather have a full church of completely committed believers, I would too, but realistically we know that would not be the likely outcome. I refer you back to the verse at the top. There is nothing new under the sun that’s going to happen to change some things, no matter what we think, hope, or trust would be for the good in our human opinion. So, who do you trust more, old Solomon or the modern day Christian psychologist?