Surviving the heat

Here in the south it has been a real scorcer, The temperatures have been up over 100 degrees. As soon as you walk outside, you feel the intense wave of heat hit you in the face. It has been so hot that if you just showered, walking out to get the mail will require another shower.
I can't think of a worse time for someone to have air conditioning problems than now. Luckily, our house air is working just fine but the other day the air went out in my car. I didn't think it would be too bad to drive over to Memphis (a 20 minute drive). With the windows rolled down, surely there would be a nice breeze. Boy was I wrong. Shortly before getting back home, I had overheated so much in that car that I thought I was going to pass out.

I came to realize that what I was missing was a "survive the heat" survival kit. I didn't even have any water to drink in my car. It took less than 20 minutes in that overheated car to become dehydrated.

The truth is that the car is not the only place that we could use a heat survival kit. Spiritually speaking, we need to have one of those intact at all times. God has power over everything and that includes the sun. Everyone knows that but what everyone doesn't know is how to survive when the heat is turned up. Some people can take the heat (physically) while others become faint easily. It is the same when we feel the heat spiritually. We must learn how to survive the hot days so we do not become dehydrated and withered up christians.

We cannot escape the heat of the sun, and likewise, God's children cannot escape the heat of persecution. We cannot avoid persecution in our lives but we can learn to survive them, if we have the proper "survive the heat" survival kit. Here are two essentials for surviving when the heat is turned up in your world...

1. Sunglasses
When I glare directly into the sun, I become blinded, until I put on a pair of sunglasses. Going thru difficult times is like staring into the bright light with no glasses on. Things do not look clear, the glare keeps us from seeing things as God sees them. To survive persecution, we need a good pair of spiritual sunglasses.

Jonah 4:8 "And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live."

Jonah could have used a good pair of sunglasses!

2. Glass of Water
There is nothing like a cold glass of water, but the problem is, most of us wait until we are parched before reaching for the glass. Spiritually, we do the same thing. Most of us wait until the persecution is upon us before we call out the name of the Lord. It is in the difficult times that we become faithful to the house of God or even remember to call out His name. In order to survive the spiritual heat, we must tap into the water continually sowe can be refreshed and renewed.

Isaiah 49:10, "They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them."

The living water of God is what will sustain us during the heat, but we must have an ample supply or we might dry up in the heat.

Have you been feeling the heat lately?
Make sure you have the essentials to survive the heat this summer, both physically and spiritually. Be prepared so you won't succomb to the dangers that come with the high heat indexes.