Unmanaged Brush Fires

Life can be messy and regularly comes with pop-up challenges or brush fires. These can
be as simple as spilling your coffee on your work papers to being notified your husband
or wife has just been arrested for a DUI. Sometimes we are bombarded and have many
unmanaged brush fires all around. We need time to step back to reflect and deal with
issues as they arise. Otherwise, they can have an accumulative impact, and become
debilitating, devastating our spiritual life as we become overwhelmed by the problems
of this world. When we allow this, we will become a victim to Satan’s policy of evil.

There is hope. God is always with us and to be our all in all with His power and wisdom
as our resource. Christ the Word and the Holy Spirit within us enables us to access
everything we need. The Body of Christ is also a strategic resource and support. These
can be instrumental in empowering us to ‘put out the fires of life,’ hosing them down
with the water of the Word. God is our sufficiency, but we are to take responsibility to
think about and then apply the doctrine in each situation. Regularly read and study the
Word rightly divided along with prayer and meditation. This gives us the needed
support to stand fast and negotiate the challenging fires. Let us take a brief look at the
Philippians 4 process: “How to Standfast” in great difficulty, even learn to rejoice in it:

1) Moderation (vs 5): Not doing things to excess but finding balance.

2) Prayer (vs. 6-7): Not
caught up in the cares of this world, being thankful to God to gain His peace.

3) Focus Above (vs
8-9): Dwell on spiritual things, meditate on them through the day, and then apply them in life
situations. This enables the God of peace to be with you in the circumstances.

4) Contentment (vs. 11-12): Learn to gain peace under stress and even be able to rejoice.

5) Know Your Strength and Resources (vs. 13,19): We can “do all things through Christ which strengtheneth” us and “God shall supply all” our spiritual needs. We’re then able to walk by faith, trusting through life.

To Do: Take time to look deeper into this chapter to make it your own and fully acquire the
instruction. As you learn to apply this process, you can mature in faith and trust God to
put out the pop-up fires in life as we yield and focus above. His grace is sufficient. Press
toward the mark! After applying this process for a while… purpose to teach others.