Are you Prepared In Case of Emergency?

     I jus recently returned from visiting the place I called home for over thirty years, Michigan.  The last 10 days were absolutely amazing.  It was a time of relaxation, rejuvenation, and a time of reconnecting with family and friends that I have not seen since I moved to Langdon, North Dakota back in the spring of 2021.  Now, I'll be honest it was sad leaving home again and leaving so many of my loved ones behind, again, but I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that He brought me to Langdon because there is work to be done, kingdom work and that it was time to get back down to business. 

     Vacations are important, regardless of your occupation, because we all get tired, stressed out, worn down but especially as pastors who a lot of them will just burn themselves out, vacations are just as important as the work we do to keep us healthy. So I made it my goal to disconnect from anything work related and try to enjoy my time away from vocational ministry to recharge.  However, it didn't take long for God to bring something to my attention that I needed to share when I came back.  

     I had just boarded my first plane heading back to Michigan and my vacation was underway.  They had just closed the cabin doors into the plane and we were all sitting with our seatbelts buckled.  People then began to take out their favorite book, puzzle, tablet and headphones out to begin to pass the time on the flight.  I myself had just put my AirPods in and strated to play the movie I downloaded.  Then for those of us who have traveled on airplanes before, something so routine happened, something done on every flight no matter the destination began to happen. The flight attendants got on the P.A. System and began to do their routine preparation before we took off to fly.  We all know what they were about to say.  They showed people how to buckle their seatbelts, where the exit doors were, alert people that our seat cushions were also flotation devices in case of a water landing and also how to put on our oxygen masks in the event the cabin was depressurized.   I've heard this message hundreds of times as I have flown before, and to be honest I don't ever listen to it, I'm usually already into my movie by then and I just want the plane to take off.  

     Something then struck me this time.  I looked around the plane I realized that the majority of the passengers were doing the same thing I was doing, tuning the flight attendant out.  Here she was telling us what to do in case of an emergency and what might ultimately save our life and we all treated it as some inconvience and just something routine. I immediately felt convicted and felt like the Lord was trying to show me that this is what happens in the majority of churches throughout the country on Sunday mornings.  Yes, Christians come to church in droves, whether or be out fo routine or they really want to come, but they do the same thing I did and manny others on the flight did when the flight attendant began to speak.  Also though in our churches the Pastor would be the flight attendants, and as the Pastor begins sharing the message and warning people of the schemes of the enemy, a lost of us tune them out and find ourselves distracted with things of this world.  Maybe we've been Christians for a long time and we think that we have all heard these messages enough we feel the need to not listen, and for the record although I'm a pastor I have been guilty of this too when I've sat in church services as well, we fell that we know what to do already.  

     Something else happened durning that time that also hit me.  The flight attendant asked everyone to pull out the card in the seat in front of us that showed the schematics of the plane and where the exits were and said we should all be familiarized with this specific plane.  I looked around and only one passenger actually looked at this description of this plane.  I also felt convicted that God was saying to us as believers that this represents Christians and their discipline of reading God's Word.  Let's be honest, yes we should pay attention during church to what the pastor says, but that is only part of it.  We also need to be in the Word as well.  It is the Word that God shows us the schematics of life and how we should live and show us where to go in case of emergency.  As I watched the people not listen to the flight attendant nor read the safety card in front of them I thought to myself, what would really happen to us in an emergency.  Would we know what to do or would we panic and perish all because we were "too busy" to listen to warnings given to us?

     So I want to encourage all of us who call themselves Christians and go to church, lets not treat this as some routine information we have already heard.  What would happen if when we went to church or opened our Bibles if we acted as if this information would not only keep us safe but also teach us how to navigate the storms in our lives that Satan will bring. Lets be prepared as children of God, not only to protect our own lives, but to also warn others and help lead them to our Lord.  Lets put away all of our distractions and give God the attentionHe deserves, and lets have some urgency in our walks with the Lord so that we do not miss anyone.  Lets be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, be open to His leading, and be ready to share His Word, in season and out of season.  Let's be about the Kingdom work.