I WANT to take one more turn away from our regular topic on Principles of Spiritual Growth and repeat a little of what I spoke about in the previous post in reference to Isaiah 55: 1-3, Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live……”
TTUBUBC
YEARS ago, when I worked for Southern California Edison, there was a time when I was on special assignment for two years in the Systems Operations Office. There were two of us that worked together who were literally responsible for the planning and operation of a major amount of the generating capacity that Edison owned and operated, everything except the Hydroelectric and Nuclear Power facilities. The actual availability, starting and shutting down, of each generating station and unit was facilitated by the two of us in conjunction with the Energy Control Center. By title I was the Short-Range Planner, my cohort the Long-Range Planner. The orchestration of our duties and decisions were based upon a long list of defined parameters and established system directives meant to meet moment by moment Edison’s electrical system requirements. When I first assumed this position, it seemed that starting late every Thursday afternoon and Friday morning our phones began to ring as calls would come in from many generating stations wanting to know what “we were going to do to them” over the weekend. You see, the weekend is when electrical system power requirements would ramp down and generating units would be cycled on and off line for outage maintenance work, testing, and other routines needing to be performed. Each station manager and their staff had their own concerns, and wanted to know how the system changes and operations were going to affect them, often wanting to argue their case for or against a decision being made. The Long-Range Planner, in an on-going consultation with department heads, developed and maintained a two to three year long-range outage and operational schedule for taking units in and out of service for routine maintenance and overhauls. However, that plan often got interrupted due to “real-time” unplanned events, equipment and system failures. As the Short-Range Planner came my task of dealing with these “real-time” interruptions to the plan. My job was both fun and stressful in responding to those unexpected events! It all gave real meaning to the phrase, expect the unexpected.
As our phones rang on those Thursdays and Fridays, we were always asked the same questions several times over, and gave out the same answers. Then, some genius installed this new thing called “email” and we –the two of us- decided to use it to answer the questions BEFORE they were asked, drafting and publishing a brief and simple System Status Report to send out to every station manager and planner on Thursday around noon, telling everyone ahead of time what we, in conjunction with System Operations were going to do and WHY!
TTUBUBC
That The Uninformed Be Uninformed By Choice
TTUBUBC became our new motto of our weekly System Status Report, telling enquiring minds everything they needed to know, before they needed to know it, so they could make informed planning decisions concerning their locations and stop bothering us, so we could do our job without those pesky phone call interruptions! You know what? They read the report and it worked! You know how we knew it worked? The phones stopped ringing!
OH yes, occasionally one of the managers would call and ask a question, prompting us to question back asking the caller if they had read the report previously sent them, only to hear a long pause of silence followed by a click! Since then, I’ve always sort of held to the thought that the idea of TTUBUBC came by divine inspiration! That experience has been a helpful metaphor in understanding God’s complete provision. He has certainly provided a wealth of information, telling us everything we need to know, before we need to know it, so we can make informed decisions concerning our lives. Isa 55 cp 2 Pet. 2:13-14 says, …His divine Power He has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. …There have been times when someone has asked me a question as an Elder or a counselor, when I’ve been tempted to respond, “Have you read the report,” have you opened the Bible and read it? TTUBUBC!
WHETHER TTUBUBC was inspired or not, it seemed like it at the time. Anything that could stop our phones from ringing while on that high pressured job, short of pulling the plug out of the wall, would have been nothing short of a miracle! But the fact that the phones quit ringing told us that the System Status Report was being read, and that it was useful to others in doing their jobs. Which brings me now to the end and today’s consideration.
BELOW is another thought and lesson from Mark Hamby, more information from a deep well of information to assist us in our daily faith-based decision making and Christian walk. Next week, we’ll resume our look at Principles of Spiritual Growth. In the meantime: TTUBUBC
With highest regards in Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10; Isa. 30:15; Jas. 1:2
*************************
The Emptied Self by Mark Hamby
I recently solved a mystery that had created years of havoc in my relational life. The mystery was solved when my wife returned to me. No, we were not divorced or separated. She had been away to take care of our daughter-in-law, who was recently in a serious accident.
We’ve been married for 33 years and this was the longest we had ever been apart. While she was away, my love for my wife grew exponentially. But several days after she returned, our relationship began to be unsettled. Why? What happened?
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. While we were away from each other, I had time to empty myself of myself. I thought of ways that I could be a better husband. I made plans for her benefit. I created surprises around the house. I made sure that several of the things she wanted done were accomplished. But when she returned, I became self-focused. Now it was my turn. Now I wanted her to meet my needs–and when she didn’t, I burrowed deeper into a state of self-pity and self-preservation.
Then the light came on. I realized that healthy relationships are built on the foundation of an emptied self. But we can’t stop there. Our emptied self must then be filled with the love of Christ. I truly believe that most of our broken relationships today are the result of us being too full of ourselves and too empty of an intimate relationship with Christ. It is only when we are fulfilled in Christ that we can fill the lives of others.
Experiencing conflicts? They’re probably an indication that you are too full of yourself. Do you want to change? Then let nothing be done through strife or self-conceit; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. And follow Christ’s example, who emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant (paraphrase of Philippians 2).
Redemption and resurrection in our relationships are only an emptied self away.
