Scaling your faith to life …

Today’s news reports told of more car accidents than usual here in the Phoenix metro area.

Why?

It rained.

For desert dwellers, driving in rain is like driving in snow. So many people here are not used to driving on slippery roads, especially since this area only gets 7-10 inches of rain per year. We are accustomed to driving on very dry roads and don’t adjust well to a rapid change to wet conditions.

Yet, today in the Phoenix area would be considered harsh in Honolulu, where I used to live (Waikiki, actually), because the temperature reached only into the 50’s today. That would be cold in Waikiki! In the time I lived there, it fell as low as the upper 60’s only a couple nights … and the jackets came out of closets quickly! People in that area are accustomed to great weather.

What seems like a blessing to some may seem harsh to others.

Why?

Because we don’t live very scalable lives. We become very accustomed to our experiences. Even more, we design our lives around a set of comforts, and when those comforts vary, we become uncomfortable.

We aren’t “scalable.”

We’re much the same when it comes to our faith. When life is comfortable and easy, we’re happy with God and reliant on ourselves. But when life becomes challenged, we’re throw fits with God, maybe even doubt or question Him, and go pleading for help.

We aren’t very “scalable” in our faith.

Paul set a different example. Paul knew how to live a scalable life with a scalable faith. He gives us this example in Philippians 4:10-13:

“How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

NASA had a saying that was well-known in its astronaut training program many years ago that went, “Maintain an even strain.” When selecting potential astronauts, it was important to choose candidates who demonstrated “scalability,” a capacity to maintain themselves mentally, emotionally, and physically in a variety of settings and situations. A lot could potentially go wrong in space, and astronauts would need to be able to “keep their heads” in any one of those possible situations.

The same goes for life down here on earth.

Life is not static, we’re confronted with changes, challenges, situations, and varying circumstances daily. When we respond without “scaling” to the latest situation, we can feel overwhelmed. But when we “scale” our faith to each new thing we face, we can make better decisions and maintain a sense of peace even in times of difficulty.

How “scalable” are you? When times get tough, does your faith “scale” out to meet the challenge? Or are you locked into a cocoon of comfort and jolted by circumstance? The difference will depend on who Christ is to you. Notice that Paul’s ability to live a scalable life with a scalable faith had everything to do with his reliance of Jesus … “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Scotty