1 & 2 Thessaloniansናሙና

I’m sure you have heard someone say, “Don’t bury your head in the sand like an ostrich,” or, “He froze like a deer in the headlights.” 

Here are the facts: Ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand. What they do is bury their eggs in holes in the ground, and several times a day they poke their head in to turn those eggs. On the other hand, when a deer steps into a road at night and looks toward an oncoming car, if the beam of the headlights hit eyes that are fully dilated, the deer can’t see at all and will often freeze until their eyes adjust. If it takes too long for the deer to recognize what is happening, it’s bad news for the deer and the car. 

Inaction, freezing, refusing to move, can be very costly. When a person panics, they often experience paralysis. This can be very dangerous. If someone is driving on a wet, slick, or icy road and their back wheels go into a slide, panicking can make things worse quickly. What needs to happen is a calm response that allows the person to gently steer into the skid—the same direction the wheels are sliding. It might seem counterintuitive, but this calm action can help a person avoid an accident and maybe save lives. 

I want us to look again at Great Britain during WW II. When the bombing began in September of 1940, everyone went into a state of preparation. They distributed thirty-five million gas masks in and throughout London, they painted all the mailboxes a special color so that they would change color or glow a different brightness when exposed to poisonous gas. For fifty-seven famous days in a row, bombs fell as German planes were dropping bombs on the City of London and all over England. After those initial fifty-seven consecutive days, they experienced six months of nighttime raids when sirens would go off. People were sleeping in subway stations in the London underground and hiding out in warehouses. They were just basically doing whatever they could to remain safe.

The people of Great Britain could have easily been like the deer in the headlights and be frozen in place, unable to move. But the spirit of the British citizens was resolute. That was, in large part, because of the leadership of their prime minister, Winston Churchill. He would give addresses on the radio that would inspire and speak courage to the citizens of Great Britain. The same sentiment that he shared at Harrow College of "never give up", "never give in" was what he spoke to the people. It is said that when they would listen to him, they would feel more courageous, they would feel like they could make it through anything because of what he was saying. His messages could be summed up in two words, "stand firm". Stand firm. That was the heart and the attitude of Great Britain through this time. They really did follow the advice that was famously put on posters, “Keep calm and carry on.”

Each one of us will at some point in life face something that will have the potential to be our “deer in the headlights” moment. Paul reminds us that we can stand firm in what God speaks to us through the Bible. He is in control and He will protect us from harm. He will enable us to continue to move ahead. If we turn our eyes and our attention toward Him, God will help us to “Keep calm and carry on!”

Respond

Describe a time when you felt frozen in place by a circumstance in your life. 

Did you turn to the Lord for help? Why or why not? What was the outcome?

Prayer

Lord, may I always stand firm in You and Your Word. Thank You for Your love and protection.