We Don't Pay Attention Until Something Goes Wrong

We're more vulnerable than we think.

The headlines this week reminded me of how weak I am. I’m quick to spend all my energy looking for solutions when things go wrong. I spend time and energy anaylzing, contemplating, and reworking things until I find something I think will fix the latest problem I’m facing. But I actually fix very little. In fact, a lot of my so-called solutions only make things worse. I need help that comes from outside myself.

Here's the headline I read about a giant ship that’s been stuck in the Suez Canal:

Suez Shows Civilization Is More Vulnerable Than We Think. Choke points imperil global supply chains, and the remedies aren’t simple or cheap. “A gust of wind was all it took to bring global container flows and oil shipments to a halt... But it’s also a reminder that even an advanced civilization like ours has points of acute vulnerability. In the strategy and military realm, such bottlenecks are also known as “choke points.” And we often don’t pay enough attention to them until something goes wrong.”

We’re living through pandemics, volcano eruptions, gun violence, and global complexities like climate change and economics. Our temptation is to live under the illusion that we’ll eventually understand how these complex systems work and then we’ll be able to control them - or at least survive them.

Humans have a long history of taking control into their own hands. Look at all we’ve accomplished in medicine, technology, and politics. We could give ourselves a big pat on the back. Or can we? Where we go wrong is thinking that somehow all the good came about by human power. We can too easily ignore, dismiss, or reinterpret the darkness beneath the surface.

Our greatest “choke point” comes from our rebellion against God. Apart from God, we can do nothing. Now come on, that can’t be true. Sure, we need God. He does a lot for us. But apart from him, we can do nothing? That’s the truth that’s difficult, maybe even impossible, to embrace unless God opens up our eyes. Until there’s reconciliation with God, we operate as if he’s not there and that only leads us into more rebellion. We remove ourselves from the source of wisdom and truth.

Catastrophic events and even simple daily challenges are opportunities to turn back to him and be reminded that humans are weak and are in constant need of his grace. One day, at the end of history, Jesus will deal with sin and evil but until then we live in a broken world alongside other sinful people. Life will only continue to mess up our plans. Ours is a fragile, temporary existence. We are creatures in need of our Creator.

Psalm 103:13-17

The Lord is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust.

Our days on earth are like grass;

like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

The wind blows, and we are gone—

as though we had never been here.

But the love of the Lord remains forever

with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

of those who are faithful to his covenant,

of those who obey his commandments!

“A gust of wind is all it took to bring global container flows and oil shipments to a halt...” Consider how much more vulnerable we are as humans. Our days on earth are like grass - here today, gone tomorrow. But we can find great hope in God’s word. God’s knows how weak we are. He knows we are only dust. He knows how devastating our sins are and yet in his love and mercy he provided a way for us to come back to him.

The greatest “choke point” is our rebellion against God but the greatest salvation comes from Jesus’ death and resurrection. On the cross, Jesus took our sins and God’s wrath for those sins upon himself. He died in our place. His blood paid the price that we owe God for our rebellion. It was a sacrificial death. Jesus was then raised from the dead so that anyone who puts their trust in what he did will receive resurrection as well. They will live forever with God in a new Earth that is free from sin and evil and “choke points.”

Psalm 103:10-12

He does not punish us for all our sins;

he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

For his unfailing love toward those who fear him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

He has removed our sins as far from us

as the east is from the west.

It’s a free gift offered to anyone who will accept it. And it comes with a promise. We can trust God with everything. We can trust him with anything that happens in this temporary life. He walks with us through it all. We can also trust him with our eternity.

Psalm 103:19

The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-27/suez-ever-given-fiasco-shows-civilization-is-more-vulnerable-than-we-think