Faith. Like a Fire Hose.

Sometimes I say things that really surprise me, occasionally in an intelligent and positive way. I want to share this one with you in the midst of Easter Week, the Corona Virus, anxiety, anticipation and all sorts of emotions, thoughts and feelings.

I was texting with a good friend today, practicing proper social distancing, and this popped out. I said, 

I can liken my faith a lot to firefighting. I can be connected to the water source with the line charged, ready to go, but until I open the nozzle, nothing happens. Opening the nozzle is me simply having and trusting, by faith, God and the promises He’s given; trusting that the pump operator will deliver as he said he would. Expecting God to act without our participation is like holding the nozzle and yelling at the pump operator why nothing is happening. He’s only going to yell back, “Open the dang nozzle!”

The Christian faith is one of trust in God and active faith on our part. Now, it’s not a blind faith devoid of any evidence - that’s not what the Bible means by faith. The first time I was on the nozzle of a fire hose I didn’t know what to expect. When I pulled the valve open, I was knocked backwards a bit and a huge smile grew on my face; a seasoned firefighter was behind me giving support. I wanted to do it again! My early days of faith in Jesus were similar. When I trusted God on His promises, I was surprised and grinned, all the while being supported by a good and Godly man. And I wanted to do it again! The more familiar I became with faith in God, the less surprised I was seeing Him act and the more secure I became in helping others.

I think for a lot of us growing up in the religion of Christianity, like I did, but not the relationship of Jesus, our faith dwindles as we’re unschooled in how it’s really supposed to work. We’re standing there with the nozzle expecting something to happen apart from our participation and after a while, we just drop the entire thing. Life is hard and our expectations of God don’t always match up with how God operates. But the more time we spend on the nozzle, the more we’re mentored and exercise our faith, the more secure we become. I still grin, by the way!

I think there are illustrations of this for the other branches of First Responders, too. For Dispatch and Police, help is just a keyed mic away. We can have all the information at our fingertips, but unless we key that mic and speak, nothing happens; help doesn’t come, resources aren’t released. The EMT can run an IV of life-saving fluid to the patient, but unless the line is open, nothing happens and the patient dwindles.

So, if you’re finding yourself at the end of your faith, or perhaps you’ve already given up, maybe this week is a good week to reconnect? I suggest you start by praying - nothing fancy, nothing formal - just share your bare, raw thoughts with God, just you and Him. He’s pretty big and I think He can handle anything you can throw at Him. Maybe it’s time we truly learn that walking by faith also requires our participation. Who knows, maybe you’ll be surprised!

PS: There’s a lot to unpack in this, it’s not simplistic and I don’t intend to over spiritualize the pain and hurt many of us have experienced at the hands of religious people. I’m coming out of an experience that really rocked my faith, I’m still healing. So, this is a process, a journey. I just want you to know it’s worth it and God loves you.