Emergency Exits/Evacuation Slides

Equipping for Success

In our previous post (Emergency Equipment), we discovered there was an eminent danger on board the flight to Lagos, Nigeria. The Captain informed me that if we could not extinguish the threat of a catastrophic event, an emergency landing would be unavoidable. This meant that all passengers and crew members would immediately LEAVE THE DANGER BEHIND by the way of EMERGENCY EXITS and EVACUATION SLIDES. This required us to move as far away from the possibility of the development of hazardous elements, such as toxic smoke and intense fire. The EMERGENCY EXITS provided our WAY OF ESCAPE!

When a situation occurs such as this, there are commands and procedures flight crews must implement to initiate the EVACUATION PROCESS. Some examples of these commands are, “RELEASE SEATBELTS!, LEAVE EVERYTHING!, COME THIS WAY!, KEEP MOVING!”. It is so very important not to LOOK BACK or to GO BACK for any reason. Whether any passenger lives or dies in an attempt to seek safety, depends on LETTING GO of What was LEFT BEHIND inside the aircraft!

How is this analogy relative to our LIFE’S JOURNEY? Consider the process of forgiveness and how it speaks to holding on to past hurts and disappointments. Passengers would not be instructed to LEAVE without following several other directives. We’ve heard it said many times, “LET THE PAST GO”. However, what I’ve learned is that the undertaking of RELEASING negative circumstances we encounter requires a purposeful timing which produces a change of heart and mind.

Notice the succession of the EVACUATION COMMANDS: RELEASING >MOVEMENT > DIRECTION. As I previously stated, EMERGENCY EXITS are OUR WAY OF ESCAPE. They direct us to the EVACUATION SLIDES that MOVE us away from danger.

Forgiving is the forging ahead to a destined place by being liberated from the captivity of what poses a danger to our very existence, so we may experience safety and blessing.

God sent Jesus as our EVACUATION SLIDE to deliver us from sin to life everlasting! He frees us from our old sinful lives through the plan (process) of salvation, which is our WAY OF ESCAPE, when there are life threatening emergencies vying for our destiny.

LET GO and LEAVE BEHIND those things you try to hold onto, for they only hold you back!

MOVE far away from the past to a secure place, so that you may be able to serve the world with the greatness that has been bestowed upon you by the God of all creation!

1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of ESCAPE, that you may be able to bear it”. (NKJ)

Philippians 3:12-13, “By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us toward Jesus. I’m off running, and I’m not turning back.” (MSG)