In his book, Mastering Life Before It’s Too Late, Robert J. Morgan tells a story about his friend, George Westover, who was stationed on the USS Tennessee, as it was anchored in Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.
According to Morgan, the Friday night before the Sunday morning attack on Pearl Harbor, Westover, who had been on shore leave, was late returning to the ship. As punishment, he was assigned the task of spending his Saturday painting his battle station. When he finished, he failed to secure and stow his can of gray paint. The next morning when general quarters sounded a voice came over the intercom announcing this was not a drill – it was war! As Westover ran to his battle station his foot hit the can of paint spilling it on the floor where he had to stand. It also spilled paint onto the decks below. Seventy years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Westover still speaks about how frustrating it was to try to fight the enemy while slipping in a pool of gray paint that seeped into his shoes, stuck to his skin, got on his weapon, and dripped on the sailors below.
And so it is with us! When the enemy attacks, it is usually the things in our lives that we have failed to secure and stow properly that will cause us the most aggravation, difficulty, and will even spill into the lives of others causing them to suffer for our carelessness.
My Word of Encouragement to all of us today is really quite simple, let’s make sure we secure and properly stow everything in our lives. It’s too late to do so when the enemy is attacking and the battle is raging!
I hope you preach good this Sunday and see many decisions for Christ!
Brother Aaron