Waiting

 

One of the many misconceptions Hollywood portrays about firefighters is how we spend our time when we’re not responding to emergencies. The movies show us watching football and playing poker all day. While there is certainly time for that in my department, the reality is that most of our time is spent preparing. We ensure our apparatus and tools are functioning properly,  we work out, and train at the tower; throwing ladders and stretching hose lines. You might see us out driving around or walking through various businesses and think we’re just killing time. In truth, we are learning our district and assessing the hazards present in the buildings we serve. We attend training sessions to keep our EMS skills sharp, and although we may dread it, we sit at our computers completing target solutions—an online training program. Most of our time is occupied in a way to ensure we are ready.

Our shifts last 48 hours, which can seem like a long time to sit and wait for calls. If we simply sat and waited for the bells to sound, we would all experience high levels of anxiety and even higher levels of boredom. Many would not find fulfillment in the job and would seek other opportunities. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts. We never want anyone to have an emergency; we don’t want to see anyone lose their home or suffer a serious injury. But if those situations arise, we do want to be the ones to respond. That is our service; it is our calling. I remember being told as a rookie not to worry about getting calls, especially fires, because they will always come—and that was a promise. Yet still, we all (especially at slow stations) anxiously await the “big one”.

Firefighting is a craft that requires high levels of proficiency, especially when a building is on fire. The lives of the occupants and the firefighters who go inside to extinguish the flames are at risk. If we don’t show up prepared, the consequences can be unimaginable. While we never know when the tones will drop or what we will be called to, it’s imperative that we are always ready. 

Many times, we find ourselves waiting for something to happen, often in circumstances we didn’t expect. We might turn it over to God and, as I discussed in a previous blog, surrender our hearts to align with His will and operate in faith. We hear Him promise that solutions are coming—that what He has for us is on the way. Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” He will restore what’s been broken, take away sickness and disease, and perhaps even bring an unexpected check in the mail. 

We hold onto those promises, but as days turn into weeks, and next thing we know, it’s been three months without seeing God’s promise fulfilled. We start to wonder where God is. With our own eyes, we may not see a solution, and the things we’ve tried might even make the problems worse. But the lesson to be learned is this: we cannot give up; nothing is impossible for God. He works in ways we don’t understand. While three months might stretch into a year or more, God is using that time to prepare us. 

If we sit idle worrying about our circumstances, we will never grow or be ready for the answers He has for us. Just as we can’t simply wait for the tones to go off, we must intentionally prepare and train. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Those steps often involve preparation and challenges that build us up for what we will face—similar to running a false alarm at the same location ten times, because that eleventh time, if we aren’t ready, it might actually be a fire.

My encouragement is this: don’t give up. Don’t take matters into your own hands. Look for opportunities that God leads you to in order to prepare for what He has for you. Embrace the waiting as an opportunity to be elevated to something beyond your imagination. Instead of praying, “Lord, give me the solution,” pray, “Lord, make me ready for what You’ve promised.”

Even when all the other units are responding to structure fires around you, remember that God hasn’t forgotten about you. He is preparing something special for you, and He is preparing you for something special.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

In the waiting, we find preparation; in preparation, we find purpose. Embrace both and step into the future God has in store, confident that He is  at work and ready to fulfill His promises in our lives.