Life is an Emergency

Life is an emergency.

This passage reminds us of the urgency and seriousness of living. Life is urgent because it’s short, and we have only a finite amount of time to bring God glory in it. “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:23). We can’t hesitate to do good if we see a chance. We need to try and fill our days with love and usefulness because they are few. 

While punctured by sweet periods of rest, our allotted 1440 minutes each day are made up of a continuous string of one crisis after the other. Some may be big and some small. Some may be relational and some practical.

Life is dealing with emergencies.

Living as a responsible adult means filling your days rushing about putting out fire after fire. Verses like 1 Corinthians 16:13 remind us we need to be watchful, ready to jump in and calm the next crisis. We need to be willing to drop our entertainment and get off the couch to deal with the next emergency. Sometimes courage must start by giving up pleasure and being willing to roll up our sleeves. Even so there is sometimes nothing sweeter than aspiring to live the quiet life and do our everyday work well.

Life is more than surviving emergencies.

How well we handle this constant string of crises largely determines success in life. We serve those we love best when we are good at noticing and taking care of the threats around them – physical, emotional, and spiritual threats. We keep our sanity when we are good at handling emergencies with calm. Take a step away to evaluate the situation and decide on the appropriate action instead of rushing in and muddling things in a panic.

Life with trust in God through everything.

But take heart! Inside this disturbing truth that all of life is an emergency lies the secret of the joy of manhood. We effectively serve our great Christ when we rightly dispose of emergencies. We bring God glory and make his fatherly face smile when we handle rightly what He sends our way. We can live with contentment and less worry when we trust in God.

Do not panic or give up as your day rushes by from disaster to irritation and back to disaster. Take a breath and grin because God loves you and made you for this. Then dive back in! Be Watchful, Stand Firm, Be Strong!