A Firefighter’s Thoughts – Ventilation

You are assigned the task of vertical ventilation at a house fire.  You perform a quick 360, confirming your spot to vent, and quickly work with your crew to cut a 4×4 louvered vent hole. As you punch through you tell your guys to back off the roof as fire erupts through the vent opening.

Take a moment and consider the amount of pressure that is built up inside of a fire before it is properly ventilated.

In our lives, the pressure of work, family, and trials can build up inside of us. We tend to internalize our stress and deal with it by ‘not dealing with it’.  We are the picture of a house fire that is all bottled up awaiting someone to pop a window and then….Boom! We explode.

As firefighters we are trained to recognize the signs of a back draft, and how to properly vent a structure when necessary. Why don’t we apply those same tactics to our personal lives?

As we internalize our stresses, our windows (our perspective and outlook on life) become darkened and our internal pressure rises (stress). Our passionate fire is almost snuffed out for lack of oxygen (no hope) and then because of our pride we break open.

And the ones we love are often those who suffer the wrath of our eruption.

God’s word is full of his promises to “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and He says “come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  His peace is “the peace of God that transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:6).

This peace comes not from a careless attitude but from the Hope in Christ that no matter the struggle that He is with you always.

God Bless and Stay Safe.