I looked up the official definition of “Panic Button” this week. Here is what the always right and never changing Wikipedia said about a Panic Button: “A panic alarm is an electronic device designed to assist in alerting somebody in emergency situations where a threat to persons or property exists. A panic alarm is frequently but not always controlled by a concealed panic alarm button.”
Panic Buttons are found in banks, prisons, and jewelry stores; places that have a high value product or service that needs to be protected or monitored. Panic Buttons are also found in the hearts and minds of people. We tend to panic at first sight of things that are not the way we feel like they need to be.
The last 10 days saw several national rulings that were introduced to the national public here in the US. They were portrayed as political. They were portrayed as left vs. right. They were not executed based on the thoughts and beliefs that bring unity and community. They brought strife and lines that “need to be stood.”
I want to encourage Christ-Followers to not hit the Panic Button! This is not a battle of ideals between people or against people. Scripture tells us that in Ephesians 6:12. Scripture reminds us that the reason Jesus died for us was because, “He loved the world!” What a great day to live for our savior Jesus Christ! What a day and hour to be standing on the side of scripture! Jesus said in John 16:33…
“Take heart, because I have overcome the world!”
He doesn’t panic when things don’t go the way He wants them to. He actually weeps over the people that do not see God the way He truly is. Luke 19:41, 42, & 44b…
41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 44b …because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”
So what does God say about the people He created and what does He say about “love winning.” Jeremiah 31:3…
Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
So what is the Christ-Follower’s response in life when things don’t go the way we “think” they should go? I love the example of the Prophet Daniel. In Daniel 6:10…
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, JUST AS HE HAD ALWAYS DONE, giving thanks to his God.
What do you think he prayed? I think he was praying for the people of his nation! Who was he praying to? To the God he wished his nation would accept!
So Christ-Follower, don’t hit the panic button!
Instead (in the words of the group For King and Country and their song “Fix My Eyes”) Click HERE to see video.
Love like I’m not scared; Give when it’s not fair;
Live life for another; Take time for a brother;
Fight for the weak ones; Speak out for freedom;
Find faith in the battle; Stand tall but above it all.
Fix my eyes on You, On You!
Ps. 141:8 (NIV), “But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge…”