THIS...IS..A...TEST....

"THIS...IS...A TEST. It is only a test. If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed to...."

Do you remember when radio and television stations used to air messages similar to the one above? I don't recall the exact wording, but I do remember how the announcement would interrupt our regularly scheduled program with a jarring, piercing sound that seemed to go on forever, followed by a message informing us that we were experiencing a required testing of the Emergency Broadcast System.

When I look around and consider what my family and many others are experiencing now, all I can say is, "Thank God, this...is...a test. This is only a test!"

Tests, by definition are temporary. They have defined limits--either in the length of time allotted for the test or the actual length of the test itself. No test operates perpetually without end. Not even the SAT or its cousins. ( I can hear the hallelujahs!)

With that in mind, I encourage myself by remembering that times of testing, no matter how grueling, are only temporary. They are not the end of the story. They are actually key turning points in our life stories for they draw out of us whatever we've been filling ourselves with prior to the time of testing.

If you've been filling your life with faith and things like the fruit of the Spirit (e.g. love, joy, peace, patience--see Galatians 5:22-23), when you get in a tight squeeze, those are the things that will come out. It's nothing to brag about. It's actually an involuntary reaction.

On the other hand, if you've continued to fill your days with profanity, gossip, bitterness, drunkenness, rebellion etc. (see Galatians 5:19-21 for further examples) what do you expect to come out in times of crisis?

Some of you may say, "Sure, you make it sound so easy!" To that I say, "Well, don't make it seem so hard!" You understand how the principle works in the natural world--if you pour milk into a sponge and squeeze it, you will get (surprise) milk! When the squeeze is on, whatever is inside has no choice in the matter. It WILL come out.

Our brains, hearts and spirits are sponges, soaking up whatever we feed them. We don't necessarily control when they will be squeezed or how tight, but inevitably, over the course of life the pressure will mount. What we can control is what we put in them during the "pre-squeeze" season, and we would do best to draw from a life-giving source--of which I know of none better than Jesus Christ.

THIS...HAS BEEN A TEST...OF YOUR ETERNAL BELIEF SYSTEM...WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM, ALREADY IN PROGRESS....

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen