There's an old story about frogs that seems to mirror an important character trait of humans. It is said that, if frogs are put into a pot of boiling water, they will jump out immediately. But if they are put into a pot of lukewarm water, which is then gradually heated, they will stay in the pot until they boil to death.
In that way, humans are very much like frogs. I'm always amazed at how quickly we can adapt to situations. I was reminded of that principle anew when I came to Korea, and in a matter of a mere few weeks I went from borderline hating this country, to loving everything about it. Often amphibian-like adaptation is a survival skill, a tool that God has given us to get along well in this world. Just look at my case. I'm fairly confident that God would not have sent me to South Korea, and then wanted me to be miserable for over a year. He wants us to be happy in the situations that He puts us in, which often means adapting to things that may not be quite comfortable in the beginning.
But this skill for adaptation also has its downfalls. It leads us wide-open and susceptible to complacency. We get adapt to our surroundings, we get comfortable and happy, and we are loathe to change anything, to do anything that might possibly "rock the boat." But what we don't realize is that we just might be on our way to boiling to death. There's a reason that the old saying says that someone is in "hot water." They are not in "warm water that is slowly being boiled." If that were the case, they would be dead before they ever realized that they were in trouble. No, they're in trouble and they know it.
Do you know it when things aren't right in your life? Have you stayed alert enough to notice slight, subtle changes in your life, changes that indicate that you might be going down a path that you don't want to go down? Or are you too comfortable in your lukewarm water, in your well-known rut, in your personal little bubble, too notice anything outside of it?
Take a lesson from the frogs. God doesn't want you to be miserable in your surroundings. But neither does He want you to get so comfortable that you forget that this is not your home, that you are just passing through on your way to much greater things. Stay tune to Him, stay alert to what He (and satan!) is trying to do in your life. Don't get caught in boiling water when you didn't even realize that it was getting warm.
In that way, humans are very much like frogs. I'm always amazed at how quickly we can adapt to situations. I was reminded of that principle anew when I came to Korea, and in a matter of a mere few weeks I went from borderline hating this country, to loving everything about it. Often amphibian-like adaptation is a survival skill, a tool that God has given us to get along well in this world. Just look at my case. I'm fairly confident that God would not have sent me to South Korea, and then wanted me to be miserable for over a year. He wants us to be happy in the situations that He puts us in, which often means adapting to things that may not be quite comfortable in the beginning.
But this skill for adaptation also has its downfalls. It leads us wide-open and susceptible to complacency. We get adapt to our surroundings, we get comfortable and happy, and we are loathe to change anything, to do anything that might possibly "rock the boat." But what we don't realize is that we just might be on our way to boiling to death. There's a reason that the old saying says that someone is in "hot water." They are not in "warm water that is slowly being boiled." If that were the case, they would be dead before they ever realized that they were in trouble. No, they're in trouble and they know it.
Do you know it when things aren't right in your life? Have you stayed alert enough to notice slight, subtle changes in your life, changes that indicate that you might be going down a path that you don't want to go down? Or are you too comfortable in your lukewarm water, in your well-known rut, in your personal little bubble, too notice anything outside of it?
Take a lesson from the frogs. God doesn't want you to be miserable in your surroundings. But neither does He want you to get so comfortable that you forget that this is not your home, that you are just passing through on your way to much greater things. Stay tune to Him, stay alert to what He (and satan!) is trying to do in your life. Don't get caught in boiling water when you didn't even realize that it was getting warm.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
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