Bops, we got a problem!!!

A couple of days ago as I was carrying a hot meal in a box lid out to the car using both hands to carefully balance the contents so that nothing would spill when my granddaughter Aby, who was in the spare bedroom where the grandkid's toys are stored, exclaimed in a frustrated voice, "Bops, we got a problem!!!

I glanced at her as I continued walking towards the garage. She had both her hands on her hips with a facial expression of total distress. Her head was cocked to one side and her eyes had this pitiful look beckoning me to stop immediately and fix the problem. There was not safe place for me to set down the hot meal so I told her I'd be right back. I was already a little behind schedule to deliver the meal to a family in our church who just had a baby. After loading the meal safely in the car, I returned to investigate the pending problem. The picture (top left) is an attempt to recreate the crisis moment. The "problem" that created all the stress was that the batteries in a toy fire truck were dead. The fire truck is a very popular toys with my grandkids because it has flashing red lights, a siren, and it plays music. For a 3 year old, it was a real crisis moment from her perspective and she knew that she could count on her "BOPS" to fix it (and I did fix it, but the meal had to be delivered first).

Hopefully you can see the red lights on the fire truck shinning in the picture (above center) as Aby proudly holds it up. Problem solved.

Have you ever faced a crisis moment in your life?
Who did you call upon for help?

For Aby, her problem on Monday was bigger than life and totally beyond her ability to resolve so she called upon the closest person to her at the moment for help. She knew from past experience that she could call upon her "BOPS" for help, and that I would do everything in my power and ability to meet her every need. Now, I ought to mention that when I returned from delivering the meal, Aby's focus had shifted from the fire truck to eating dinner and the earlier crisis was no longer an issue. I did replace the batteries today (Saturday; six days after the original event).

Life is filled with crisis situations that are much bigger than dead batteries. As Christians we have never been promised that we will not experience the hardships of life. BUT, we have a great priest in our Lord Jesus Christ to whom we can call upon and know that He loves us and is always faithful. I am reminded of the passage from Hebrews 4 which describes His greatness. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus Christ the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).

There is so much about the Christian life that I don't understand, but I know this about God - He is faithful.

In His sovereignty He always accomplishes HIS purpose.

I don't know about you but one of my biggest pitfalls in this journey called life is self-reliance.

When a "crisis" moment occurs, what is the first thing you do?

Three most common practices come to mind: 1) turn to God immediately; 2) blame God for not preventing the crisis from occurring; and 3) shift into fix-it mode to tackle the problem in my strength.

I know the the first reaction ought to be my immediate response, but the latter is most true about me. I am learning that those moments in life that most often seem to be a "crisis" from my perspective are really opportunities for my awesome God to demonstrate His glory. He has never failed me and never will. He is worthy of my complete trust even when life's experiences don't make sense.