If you've ever flown in an airplane, you know, before the
plane even taxis out to the runway, all the passengers on board are given
instructions on what to do in the case of an emergency.
One of these instructions has always amazed me.
Passengers are told, in case of an emergency where pressure
and oxygen fall in the cabin, oxygen masks will drop from overhead. They’re told to place these masks on themselves
before assisting any of the passengers around them. Special emphasis is even placed on doing
this before helping any children or elderly.
To some this may seem selfish or cruel. Is it really rational to ask a mother to put
her life before that of her young child?
There is a profound wisdom here though. And, I believe it’s a wisdom backed by the
Word of God.
The reason our flight-attendant friends give the instruction
they do, is because they know how quickly lack of oxygen can cause the human
body to pass out. Though still alive, the
body is rendered completely ineffective.
They know, in this type of emergency, the best chance at saving lives is
to have as many people conscious as possible.
If a passenger, including our mother, helps the person next to them while
failing to secure their own mask first, there’s a chance both will end up
unconscious and without oxygen.
Inversely, if our passenger first gets their mask on, they’ll be much
more likely to stay conscious and able to help the passenger next to them. Even if the passenger sitting next to them passes
out while waiting for help, they’ll both ultimately receive the oxygen they
need to survive.
Bottom line is this…
We’re no good to anyone else if we’re not ok ourselves.
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40)
There’s a lot going on in this verse, but here’s the part relevant
to this post, we’re called to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we don’t love ourselves we will not be
able to love others. We’ll get worn out
and become like the unconscious passenger.
Ephesians even uses similar language to describe the relationship
of a husband to his wife.
So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. (Ephesians 5:28-30)
Will God use the broken to minister? Without a doubt! Will God’s grace carry you through if you sacrifice
your needs for that of another?
Yes! At times, I believe we’re
even asked by Him to do this for a season.
But,
it’s not meant to be a permanent condition.
God won’t allow it.
Why?
At times, it can be the reason behind why we’re “loving our
neighbor” and neglecting ourselves. Are
we in a masochistic “works program” attempting to earn our way? If so, we should remember we’re not saved by
works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
But I think there’s an even more important reason.
We serve a God who loves us deeply. Though He commands us to serve each other
with an agape love, the thing most precious to Him is His own relationship with each one of us. He desperately wants us to know we’re
just as loved and valuable to Him as those we serve in His name.
One of my favorite verses in any song is the last verse of
Hillsong United’s “Desert Song”...
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow
Before we can sow, we must be filled! Filled with, the only seed of any true value,
His love and His Word.
Believing this will bless someone!
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