"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand firm."
Ephesians 6:11
Twenty-two years ago, my husband decided to put a pool in our backyard. Several months after it was installed, Ken was diagnosed with MS and the doctor told him, "Your priority needs to become maintaining your current muscle strength, and the best form of exercise that will strengthen all of your muscles at the same time is swimming; so you should really consider taking up swimming." As a result, we always saw God's hand of involvement regarding the installation of our pool.
On the hierarchy of Ken's love chart, I know that Jesus is in first place and the kids and I are second… but that pool ranks pretty high as well. He finds pool maintenance therapeutic and prides himself on how often the pool store will give him an A+ on his weekly chemical analysis. In addition, in all of his years of owning this pool, he has never had an algae problem… until last Friday when the pool was reopened, and it was green!
Somehow, what started as a small algae organism, grew during our mild winter and over took the pool! This tiny unattended nuisance grew into a huge problem that now requires a tremendous amount of work to address and resolve the issue.
Similarly, problems that are not handled in a Godly manner have the same potential! What starts as a small issue has the potential to turn into a huge problem when it is not properly addressed and resolved. Conflicts and disagreements are inevitable and will happen, but when we handle these situations with emotions of anger, bitterness, and resentment, these situations escalate into something much larger and more difficult to manage; before you know it, you find yourself in a “pool” of trouble.
This has been an amazing school year, covered in God's fingerprints! However, the Evil One would love nothing more than to blow up circumstances and situations so that the year would end on a sour note. However, we cannot let him win! With only a few weeks of this school year remaining, it's time to "Armor Up", putting on the full armor of God when challenges come in our direction. Scripture states in Ephesians 6:18 "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." We want to be a school community where we speak truth in love and resolve differences where God is glorified and Satan does not get a foothold in any situation.
Have a wonderful week asking God to help resolve your issues.
In His Love,
Mrs. Palka