“Fill your bathtubs, buckets and barrels.”

That strange order was repeated countless times last week in our city of Chisinau.  The news was reporting that our water would be off for four days, and no one knew when it would happen.  Due to the extreme flooding, bridges were covered, houses were destroyed, and lives were lost.  Authorities expected the city water pumping station to be out of commission for a while.

So all the bathtubs were filled at the ministry center.  We sent the kids to take showers.  We stored drinkable water in the refrigerator.

And nothing happened.  They were able to keep the water coming to the city, so life continued for us (though not for the thousands now displaced from their homes.)

I began thinking about how we react when there is a sense of urgency.  We don’t hesitate, but we do it NOW.  We don’t procrastinate, but we are motivated.  We don’t sit around and ask clarifying questions.  We just MOVE.

If a tornado siren blows, we rush to the basement.
If a hurricane is approaching, we board up windows and leave town.
If a snowstorm is howling, we lock the doors, stay home, and start a fire!

Yet I often wonder if I live my Christian faith with that same urgency, an eternal compulsion?  Do I live each moment knowing that “no man knows the hour” of the end of his life?  Do I minister knowing I might never see this person again?

What if we had some warning that Christ was returning one year from today?  What if we knew we had six months to live?

Who would you call to tell that you loved them?
With whom would you reconcile?
With whom would you share about Christ’s forgiveness?
What would you remove from your life?  Add to you life?
What would you do with your money or your time?
How would you like God to examine your spending habits?

If you knew the flood was coming, how would you prepare?

Lord, give me a sense of urgency for today!  Help me to not wait until tomorrow to share about you, but to act today.  Help me not to live with grudges or unforgiveness, but to clear the slate with both you and those around me.  Help me to build Your Church more than my kingdom.  Help to look at the fields that are ripe….and act.

Staying dry in Moldova,
Andy Raatz